Years ago, we camped out for our annual opening day trout season. The Pennsylvania opening day meant that thousands of fat trout were stocked and ready to be caught. The Yellow Breeches waterway was a popular place for everyone to enjoy fishing for trout. Some folks hate fishing in crowds but to us it was like a big party and celebration.
The night before, I found out that one of our friends was having a birthday. No one knew and as the cook, I was unprepared. Great cooks will figure out how to improvise.
When I investigated the ice chest, I saw 2 packs of Bologna lunch meat. This reminded me of a party appetizer that my parents made back in the day. Bologna Cake was a fun retro snack. No Baking needed!
I started with a carboard base covered in foil, slightly larger than the round slices of bologna. Next, I made what would become the icing for my cake.
Icing
- use 1 ½ blocks of Cream Cheese. 120z.
- Spice with Ranch dressing mix. Since Bologna is salty, only add half of the Ranch spice packet. I made two cakes, so I used the rest on my second cake.
- Mix. This will be the glue that holds the layered cake together.
Cake
- Lay a round slice of Bologna on the foil base. Blot with a paper towel to remove any moisture. Smear some icing onto each slice. Repeat with about a dozen slices.
- Once the slices are layered, use the icing to completely ice the entire cake.
- Top the cake with a can of cheese whiz spray. The spray can allow you to be creative in cake decorating. The cake is too small for any writing, so I made a small sign, on a stick, which went on top.
- Garnish with sliced olives. I have also made this with thinly sliced olives in between the layers. This now becomes Olive Loaf-like.
- Sprinkle with parsley and a few bacon bits.
Stick a small candle onto the top. The platter for serving will have Ritz crackers and a decent slicing knife on hand. Cut thin slices, to fit the crackers, and enjoy. The Birthday cake was a hit and since the Birthday Boy is full of Bologna, when he told his fishing stories, the idea became a huge hit. Everyone got their limits of this tasty cake.
Do not forget to sing Happy Birthday!
Montana Grant
Feature photo citation: Bologna cake. (2024, December 29). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_cake
