Faith Hill's Holiday Favorites

Coca-Cola cake

Serves 12
Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 &frac; hours

For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup Coca-Cola
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

For the icing:
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
2 cups confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease and flour a 9- by 13-inch sheet cake pan. Sift flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Set aside. In a small saucepan, bring butter, cocoa, and cola to a boil over medium heat. Pour over flour mixture and stir. Add buttermilk, baking soda, eggs, vanilla, and marshmallows, and stir. (Batter will be thin and marshmallows will float to the top). Bake cake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. About 5 minutes before the cake is done, make the icing by bringing all the ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan. Cook until it reaches the consistency of a thin glaze. Poke holes in the cake with a toothpick or wooden skewer (to let the icing sink into the cake), then spread the icing over the cake while both are hot. Set aside to coolS; slice and serve.

Make it healthier: Scaling down the portion size of this dish is the simplest way to reduce the calorie and fat count without sacrificing flavor, says Shadix. His solution: Turn the cake into cupcakes. "This recipe will easily make 18 cupcakes, and that brings the calories down from 610 to 407. The fat drops from 24 grams to 16," he says. You prepare the recipe the same way; just reduce the cooking time to 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.