Chocolate Turtle Ganache Cake

    Recipes I have loved and cherished over the years never seem to fail me. Especially when I hear of a birthday at the last minute and need to whip up a cake quickly. I can rely on these recipes and this one will fool anyone that it was made from a box mix! Yes, so easy, but the taste and appearance is like a cake made from scratch.

What can I say, chocolate, pecans, caramel. Decadent, rich ganache glaze drips over a moist chocolate cake and an ooey-gooey layer of caramel, chocolate and pecans. This cake is elegant and so party worthy.  Served slightly warm, about 4-5 hours after baking, it will melt in your mouth.  I have also served the cake with ice cream or whipped cream along with a drizzle of chocolate or caramel sauce. Yum.

Chocolate Turtle Ganache Cake

Adapted from Betty Crocker

For the cake:

1 box Devils’d food cake mix

1 1/3 cup water

½ cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 bag (14 oz) caramels

½ cup evaporated milk

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the Ganache:

½ cup heavy cream

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

2 tablespoons chopped pecans for decoration (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray bottom of 9 inch spring form pan.

In large mixing bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low spped 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour half of the batter into the pan. Bake 22 minutes. Refrigerate remaining batter.

Meanwhile, in a 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 – 30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean and cake springs back when lightly touched. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cool at least 30 minutes. Remove from pan and place on cooling rack.

For the Ganache, coook the heavy cream, chocolate chips and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm stirring frequently. Pour the glaz evenly over the top making sure to cover the entire cake and sides. Tilting the rack helps to smooth the glaze and drip over the sides. Decorate with chopped pecans if desired. Store loosely covered at room temperature.