Ho Ho (Ho) Cake

Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone had a great holiday and enjoyed lots of good food. One of the desserts that I made and tend to make most years for Christmas is "Ho Ho Cake". It's really very simple and tastes remarkably like a Ho Ho, which I always thought was a cupcake but at one point was convinced otherwise. All that to say, I'm not sure what a Ho Ho is exactly. I received this recipe from a friend a few years ago in a recipe exchange. This is the only recipe I received in the exchange that I have made consistently and was worth the postage spent sending out all those letters that were supposed to return something like 36 recipes, but in reality only 5 or so arrived.

Here's the recipe-

Note: You will need a stand mixer to make this cake. Or the desire to spend lots of time with your hand mixer.

Ingredients:

1 chocolate cake mix, plus ingredients to make cake
1 can chocolate frosting
3/4 c. evaporated milk
2/3 c. solid shortening
1/2 c. (1 stick) margarine
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Bake cake according to package directions in a 9 by 13 inch pan. Let cool completely. Combine evaporated milk, shortening, margarine, sugar and vanilla in bowl of stand mixer. Mix on medium-medium high speed for 20 minutes. Spread filling over cooled cake. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until set. Microwave frosting for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Pour over the cake and spread evenly. Return to refrigerator until set, approximately 3o minutes.