Turtle Cake

Today is "Foodie Friday" at Designs By Gollum and I find that I look forward to these days, now, so I suggest you give her blog a looksee if you like recipes.  Today I'm sharing another over the top sweet dessert (I promise sweets are not all we eat around here).  I got this recipe from my great aunt Mafalda when I was a little girl.  I used it in competition for my 4-H cooking group.  I didn't get 1st place; rather, I lost to a "dirt cake" (you know the pudding in a flower pot with pulverized Oreo cookies and an artificial flower stuck on top) and I was more than a little miffed (imagine recalling this 20+ yrs. later) so it left a lasting impression on me to say the least.  The competition rules stated that everything be "from scratch" and, as you will see, this recipe calls for a box mix... sooo my solution?  Use the recipe on the back of the German Choc baking squares box.  Yes.  All from scratch.  It was so damn good, too.  So, "how could this sweet little girl lose to Bobby and his pudding in a pot", you ask?  Well, his mommy was the president of our 4H group, of course!  And, being the small town that this is, Bobby and I grew up to be friends...no hard feelings except for the occasional "life isn't fair" moments that I'm known to have so if you find yourself having one of your own "moments", I prescribe this cake:

TURTLE CAKE:

1 box German Chocolate cake mix
14 oz. pkg. caramels
1 stick butter or oleo
½ cup evaporated milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Icing:

½ cup butter
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
6 Tbsp. evaporated milk
1 lb. bag of sifted powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x13 inch cake pan.  Mix cake as directed on the box. Pour half the batter into greased pan. Bake 15 minutes. Reserve remaining batter.  Melt the following until creamy in a double boiler or microwave: butter, caramels, and milk. Pour over partially baked cake batter. Cover caramel mixture with chocolate chips and nuts. Drop remaining batter over top.  Bake for 25 minutes or until done.

Mafalda’s notes: Put caramels ahead of time (I’m assuming she means to begin to melt them a little before adding milk & butter).

I used 2-½ to 3 cups of cake batter for the bottom layer. I cooled the first layer and caramel mixture a little so that it thickened some before adding the top layer.  The top layer, although dropped by spoonfuls onto the caramel mixture, covered thinly.

Icing:

Heat butter, cocoa, and evaporated milk in a small sauce pan.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and add sifted powdered sugar. Blend. Add vanilla and blend until it reaches the consistency desired.