You Favorite Cake!

I made a fantastic cake from Better Homes either last year or the year before. It was in the October issue, either '06 or '05. It was a caramel cake, 3 layers, with buttermilk. It was fantastic, although not the easiest cake to make. THe frosting had Bailey's in it -- yum. If you search their website, you will find it.

It's neither chocolate nor caramel, but our family's favorite cake is Honey Bun cake.

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1/3 cup honey
3/4 cup brown sugar (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
chopped pecans

GLAZE
2 cups confectioner's sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F .

In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream. Stir by hand until most of the lumps are gone.

Pour the batter into an greased 9x13 glass pan. Top with a thin layer of honey. (I don't measure the honey -- just squeeze it out until the top is somewhat covered.)

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans, and sprinkle over the batter in the cake pan.

Swirl the cake slightly with a butter knife.

Bake in preheated oven for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Make the frosting by mixing together the confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Frost cake while it is still fairly hot (15-20 minutes after you take it out of the oven). Serve warm for maximum enjoyment. :)

A similar recipe is on allrecipes.com --
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Bun-Cake-I/Detail.aspx

Betty Crocker's TURTLE Cake!! YUM!!!

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)
Ice cream or Whipped cream, if desired
Caramel and chocolate topping, if desired
Chopped pecans, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan.
2. 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.
3. 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.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): In step 3, bake 30 minutes (34 minutes for dark or nonstick pan).

I love going to www.allrecipes.com and picking cakes that are 4 or 5 star rated. Then, read the reviews to see if you want to make any changes. I made a Turtle lovers cake for my mother that was out of this world. Given that you like chocolate and carmel, this would be right up your alley. It was so moist and yummy!

Hi April,
My Grandmother made this cake all the time and I loved it! I always topped it with a dusting of powdered sugar. This cake is so moist and delicious, I hope you try it!

1 c. butter, softened
2 c. flour, sifted
1 3/4 c. sugar
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 c. Coca Cola
1 1/2 c. miniature marshmallows

Combine soda and buttermilk. Put all ingredients in large bowl except Coke and marshmallows. Blend well at low speed on mixer. Add Coke/buttermilk mixture and blend well, stir in marshmallows. Pour in greased and floured 9"x13" cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 or 45 minutes.

Don't know if this is my favorite or not but my whole family runs to it. At first we thought it sounded nasty but it turned out really well and it is pretty simple. I found it on a bag of sugar. Let me know if you try it and like it.
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 c. water
1c. margarine or butter (Stick butter is easiest)
2 unbeaten eggs
1/2 c. buttermilk

Mix sugar, flour, and baking soda in large bowl. Mix peanut butter, water, and margarine in a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil. Put peanut butter/water mixture over combined fry ingredients. Mix well. Add unbeaten eggs and buttermilk. Mix together and pour into a cake pan (make sure to spray with cooking spray). I use 11x13. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Frost with chocolate frosting.
Kinda has that reese cup feel to it. I also use this recipe for muffins. I like them without the frosting too. Let me know if you try it, how it goes, and if you like it. Shannon
SAHM of 2 boys 15mo old and 9yr old. Married for 8 yrs. to wonderful husband.

I absolutly love to Bake and my favorite is Texas Sheet Cake. It is the best chocolate cake! I will send you the receipe when I dig it out!

Here is a recipe I found for the BEST CAKE EVER!!! When I make this, everyone is amazed not only at how delicious and moist it is, but also that it is made from a package mix! It is definitely perfect for a chocolate and caramel lover.

18.25 pkg devil's food cake mix
7 oz (1/2 can) sweetened condensed milk
6 oz caramel ice cream topping
3 Skor or Heath bars, chopped
8 oz Cool Whip

Bake cake according to package directions for a 9x13 pan; cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. With the handle of a wooden spoon, make holes across the top of the cake about 1 to 2 inches apart, making sure not to go all the way through to the bottom.
In a saucepan over low heat, combine sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping, stirring until smooth and blended. Slowly pour the warm topping over the warm cake, letting it sink into the holes. Sprinkle the chopped candy bars liberally across the entire cake while still warm. Let the cake cool completely and refrigerate. Before serving, frost top of cake with Cool Whip and if desired, more candy bar chunks. Serve right from the pan!

Dear April,

1 box of devil cake
1 jar of carmel topping (like for ice cream)
cool whip
mini choc chips

Cook cake like usual then let cool take a straw and poke a whole bunch of holes in the cake. Then pour the carmel over the cake. Top with cool whip then put choc chips on top. We sometimes add toffee bites on top too.
B.

I don't bake or cook BUT my favorite cake is Hummingbird Cake. If you've never tried it, look for a recipe and try it!! YUM!

I honestly just love Betty Crockers Marble cake! I wish I had some more "homemade" recipes to share. Paula Deen might have some yummy ones?

This one is a real simple one yet I have a guy where my husband works who asks me to make it for him for his birthday every year.
I just bake a yellow cake and take a wooden spoon and put holes in the cake (as many or as few as you like) then I cover with choc. pudding make sure you shake it down so the pudding fills up the wholes ( I use about 2 boxes of pudding) then I top it off with cool whip. It is also a fav of my children.