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December 11, 2007
Turtle Cake
Turtle cake makes the perfect gift for the chocolate lover on your list. It's chocolately while having a a caramel surprise in the middle and even a bit more chocolate to go along with that caramel! This cake is ooey gooey and oh so good. It's the perfect compliment to a big glass of milk!
(Note: The recipe is written for a 13 X 9 baking dish, but once again I'm still using the toaster oven. The stove person still hasn't fixed the issue! (Yes I'm more than ticked about that, but that's another story all together.) Anyway...I baked this in two 8 X 8 inch dishes instead.)
What You'll Need:
1 1/2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of cocoa
2 1/2 cups of organic cane sugar
2 cups of unsalted peanuts, chopped (Note: Measure out 2 cups of peanuts and then chop them.)
2 sticks of butter, melted and cooled for a few minutes
4 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 - 11 ounce bags of caramel bits
1 - 11.5 ounce bag of milk chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Mix together flour through sugar until incorporated. (Note: You can sift this together if you want, but it's just as easy to put it in a big bowl and mix it well with a whisk or a spoon.) Stir in peanuts until completely incorporated into the dry mixture. Add eggs, butter and vanilla and mix until dough forms. (Note: Sometimes it's easier to just get in there with your hands and mix it by hand.)
Divide the dough in half with one half slightly larger than the other. Take the smaller of the two dough balls and press it into a 13 X 9 inch dish that has been greased or sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven leaving the oven on.
While the crust is baking melt the caramel in a pan over medium heat with heavy cream or in the microwave and set aside.
Once the crust is baked sprinkle the top of the baked crust with chocolate chips.
Pour caramel mixture over the chocolate chips and if necessary spread it out to the edges. (Note: Normally it does the spreading by itself.)
Take remaining dough and press to cover the chocolate chips and caramel mixture.
Put the cake back into the oven and bake for 20 minutes to finish off the cake.
Let the cake cool completely and then slice in to squares.
Notes: You can use any type of nut you want and I normally use pecans, but my sous chef (aka Alexis) wanted to use peanuts today so we went with peanuts. The cake is very gooey, so if storing in layers it's best to put down a layer of wax paper or aluminum foil between each layer.
Posted by Dianne at December 11, 2007 8:19 AM
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Comments
Oh wow that looks good! My mouth is watering.
Posted by: Allie at December 11, 2007 7:27 PM
We've made Turtle cake for years in my family. The original recipe called for a chocolate cake mix, but I've adapted it over the years to cut that out and use real ingredients. It's a big hit in the family. :o)
Posted by: Dianne at December 12, 2007 8:38 AM
This looks delicious!!
Posted by: Deborah at December 18, 2007 11:15 AM
Thanks! I've got to make another batch for my family Christmas party. I sent this batch to work with Jamison and they seemed to like it there too! :o)
Posted by: Dianne at December 18, 2007 12:23 PM