Turtle Cake

This cake is rich, gooey, and a favorite of Bryan's.  It is quick and easy to make and a hit whenever and wherever it is served.

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup strong, brewed coffee
1 stick butter

1 14-ounce package caramels

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup pecan pieces

Instructions:

Y'all, I was so excited to be making this yummy cake that I forgot to take a photo of the assembled ingredients but here is a mish-mash collage of most of what was used.

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Combine eggs, oil, and coffee and beat in cake mix.
• Pour half of batter into a 13" x 9" pan.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• While this is baking, melt butter and caramels.  

Don't these look beautiful resting on that pretty little saucer?  Mike helped me to unwrap these little nuggets of wonderfulness and I think that helped him to appreciate the deliciousness of the cake!

I do this melting in the microwave by zapping on high for a minute and stirring.  Then, zap again in thirty second intervals till all is melted and creamy and beautiful.

• Add condensed milk to the melted butter/caramel mixture and stir till blended and smooth and creamy and luscious.
• Pour half this mixture over the baked half of the cake.
• Sprinkle with half of chocolate chips and half of pecans.

After the caramels looked so pretty on this saucer, I decided I'd have to get a shot of the morsels of wonderfulness on it too!  Isn't this a beautiful sight?

• To add another layer of yummyness, pour remaining cake batter on top and bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove cake from oven and pour remaining caramel mix on top of warm cake.
• Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips and pecans.

This cake is divine served warm from the oven!  (Mainly because it looks so beautiful and tasty that I cannot wait to give it a taste.)  It is a little slice of heaven no matter when it is served, though.

Pumpkin Pecan Pound Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1 box vanilla pudding mix
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
3 eggs
1 can pumpkin
1 cup chopped pecans

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Mix cake mix and vanilla pudding mix together in a large mixing bowl.
• Add vegetable oil, water, and eggs and mix well.
• Mix in pumpkin. 
• Fold in pecans.
• Spray bundt pan and pour mixture into pan.
• Bake 45 minutes.

This tastes like a sweet bread.  You could top with a dollup of whipped cream cheese.  I got this recipe from a teacher-friend, Amanda Lemmons.  She makes it with bananas instead of pumpkin.  She says she has also used a chocolate cake mix with the bananas to make chocolate-banana cake.  I have added pureed strawberries before and glazed witha powdered sugar glaze.  I have also replaced the pumpkin with apples and glazed with a caramel glaze before.  It is a versatile recipe and a baked cake freezes well!

Fall Treat!

Dump Cake

1 can cherry pie filling
1 large can crushed pineapple
1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/2 sticks butter

• Coat a 9" x 13" casserole dish with vegetable spray.
• Dump pie filling and pineapple and stir together to mix.
• Sprinkle cake mix over the top of the fruit and smooth out with a fork
• Cut up butter and dot the top of the cake mix with chunks (or melt it and pour evenly over the top of the cake mix if you are in a dashing hurry).
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes.
• Cool only till it won't burn a blister on your tongue and serve it up!

This is a recipe I grew to love when I was a farm woman with chores that kept me out at the barn till it was later than most people even think about stirring something up for supper (the evening meal for those of you who are hoity-toity).  I could come in from the barn and stir up a pot of chili or something equally as quick, easy, and filling simple, tasty, and nourishing, dump the ingredients for this cake into a pan and we had a gourmet meal in a jif!