As a last-minute “birthday cake” I found this recipe on my iPhone while working out. Yes, I iPhone while on the elliptical… Anyhow, one of my apps is a Betty Crocker recipe search. I was looking for a quick easy recipe to put together. I didn’t have a lot of time, or to be honest desire, so this recipe fit the bill. A plus was I had all the ingredients called for.
The recipe is highly rated on the Betty Crocker site. Some of the reviewers noted that the caramel hardened quite a bit once cooled, but I didn’t have that problem at all. The cake is very moist, but not “mushy”. It is very rich too, I do suggest adding whipped topping or ice cream to mellow out the richness of the cake a little. I served the cake warm with vanilla bean ice cream. It was wonderful.
Photo from the Betty Crocker site
(I still have to photograph the dessert and post it, but I dislike posting recipes without pictures to influence you to make it!)
A Betty Crocker Recipe -
Ingredients:
- 1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® devil’s food cake mix
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 bag (14 oz) caramels
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 bag (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup) *I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate discs
- Ice cream or Whipped cream, if desired
- Caramel and chocolate topping, if desired
- Chopped pecans, if desired
Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom of 13×9-inch pan.
In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low-speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour half of the batter into pan. Bake 22 minutes (25 minutes for dark or nonstick pan). Refrigerate remaining batter.
Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan**, heat caramels and evaporated milk over medium heat, stirring frequently, until caramels are melted. Stir in pecans. Pour caramel mixture over warm cake in pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Spread with remaining batter. Bake 25 minutes (29 minutes for dark or nonstick pan) or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cool at least 30 minutes. Serve with ice cream, drizzle with topping and sprinkle with pecans. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
**I microwaved the caramel according to the directions on the bag. It resulted in the same product a saucepan would have.
