Chocolate Caramel Crunch Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...It's a hot mess. If you love chocolate, caramel and nuts, literally buried in a mound of creamy snow, fasten your seat belts 'cause we're heading to paradise. If your tastes, like mine, tend toward the spare and barely sweet, I beg your indulgence and promise, that later in the week, there'll be something here for you as well. I've had this cake several times this summer, so, it's fair to say it has fans in this small community I call home. My first bite came from the, not so meager, piece the Silver Fox had claimed for himself at a block party. He was in paradise and had already extracted the promise of a recipe from its very flattered baker. I noted the cake quickly disappeared from the table and my husband's plate, but I foolishly thought that would be the end of it. I was certain that with all the other good things served that day, the cake would surely fade into memory. You know how things don't always work the way you think they will? Over the course of the next week, three copies of the recipe were tucked into our mailbox and a quarter of the cake miraculously appeared at our door. The Fox is obviously a charmer. The cake we were given disappeared in an embarrassingly short time. The Fox began to cajole and before I knew it, I was at the counter throwing the cake together. He believes his low-fat argument has swayed me. I'm a great actress. I also have a sense of humor and know the best way to stop an itch is to scratch it really hard. He tired of the cake half way through it 9 x 13-inch excess. It was too much of a good thing and I had to send the remains down the hill. I'm told by the mother of that clan, who, by the way, asked for the recipe, that the boys scorffed it up. If you asked me to describe the cake, the words ooey,gooey come to mind. It is not a cake I would choose for myself, but an awful lot of people love it. I learned a long time ago that I'm not an arbiter of taste, so here's the recipe for those of you who love things that are ooey, gooey, soft and chewy.

Chocolate Caramel Crunch Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Taste of Home Magazine

Ingredients:
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) devil's food cake mix
1-1/3 cups water
5 egg whites
1 can (14 ounces) fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fat-free caramel ice cream topping
5 fun-size Butterfinger candy bars, crushed
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2) Combine cake mix, water and egg whites in a largebowl and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan.
3) Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
4) With a meat fork or wooden skewer, poke holes about 2 in. apart into cake. Slowly pour condensed milk and caramel topping over cake; sprinkle with two-thirds of the crushed candy bars. Spread with whipped topping; sprinkle with remaining candy bars. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 18 servings.







One Year Ago Today: Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream












Two Years Ago Today: Ice Cream Crunch Cake







You might also enjoy these recipes:
Blackberry Chocolate Sheet Cake - Expat Cucuina
Raspberry Lime Sheet Cake - Annie's Eats
Mini Texas Sheet Cakes - Dinners for a Year and Beyond
Chocolate Sheet Cake - That Skinny Chick Can Bake !!!
The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever. - The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze

Joshua, who brought a catalog along for his visit to Santa, knows exactly what he wants for Christmas. I hope Santa was taking notes!

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Earlier this week I had to make a cake for a morning coffee. I wanted to bake something that was seasonal, easy to make and just a little different than standard holiday fare. I found one in the book Southern Cakes, written by Nancie McDermott, that was exactly what I was looking for. I thought the cake would be too sweet for my own taste, but I knew others would love the apple and caramel confection. To my great surprise I found that I like it, too. The small piece I'd cut for myself was delicious and the caramel glaze that covered the top of the cake was amazingly good. The cake is definitely a keeper and, if you have not tried it, I hope you will soon. Here's the recipe.

Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, inspired by Nancie McDermott

Ingredients:
Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups finely chopped apples
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
Brown Sugar Glaze
1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch pan. Set aside.
2) Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a fork to mix everything together well.
3) In a large bowl, beat eggs with a wooden spoon or a mixer at low speed until pale yellow and foamy. Add oil, applesauce and vanilla and beat well. Stir in flour mixture with a wooden spoon and continue stirring batter just until flour disappears. Add apples and nuts, stir to mix them into the batter until fairly uniform. Scrape batter into prepared pan.
4) Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown, springs back when touched lightly and is beginning to pull away from sides of the pan. Place cake (still in the pans) on a wire rack and spoon over the glaze while still hot.
5) To make glaze: Combine brown sugar, butter, vanilla and cream in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Then cook for 3-5 minutes.
6) Spoon hot glaze all over hot-from-the-oven cake. Let glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan. Yield: 12 - 16 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Healthy German Apple Cake - Honey and Soy
Butterscotch Apple Cake - Sugar Plum
Cranberry and Apple Cake - Christie's Corner
French Apple Cake - David Lebovitz
Marie-Helene's Apple Cake - Sea Salt with Food
Cinnamon Apple Cake - Elana's Pantry
The Apple Lady's Apple Cake - One Perfect Bite