At first, I was unimpressed by this cake recipe. I tripled the cocoa powder, as one reviewer suggested, and the result was gorgeously dark red cupcakes (baked for 15 minutes at 350). I also used half butter, half vegetable oil to encourage moistness. Unfortunately, the flavor was very bland. It tasted just like boxed cake mix, except not as good. But my co-workers did like the cake, so I tried it one more time, this time with the original vegetable oil but FOUR tablespoons of cocoa. I really liked how this picked up the flavor a bit for me, and it was more moist this way.

Reviewed On: Feb. 11, 2007

I doubled the vanilla in this recipe, added 1/3 cup powdered sugar and substituted 1/2 cup of (whipped) heavy whipping cream for the butter - sort of a variation from the "Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting" recipe. The frosting piped well when cold, but softened up whenever it was out of the fridge for long. Regardless, the taste was pure heaven. Delicious! The photos here look great, so I might try it with the butter next time.

Reviewed On: Feb. 11, 2007

This was really delicious. The sausage really added a punch. Use as spicy of an Italian sausage as you can handle to add to it even more! I had no vodka on hand and made it without, and it was great anyway. Added about a tablespoon of sugar to get rid of some of the tartness of the tomato. The penne will absorb all of the sauce, so don't mix the two if you're planning on keeping this for leftovers.

Reviewed On: Jan. 15, 2007