Turtles Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan.
• Make cake batter as directed on box. Pour half of the batter into pan. Bake 22 minutes. Refrigerate remaining batter.
• 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 to 28 minutes 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 toppings and sprinkle with pecans. Store loosely covered.

Steps:

• Dissolve cocoa in boiling water; cool. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk and cocoa mixture, beating well after each addition., Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For caramel layer: Line a 9-in. round pan with foil and grease the foil with butter. Sprinkle with pecans; set aside., In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, brown sugar, 1/2 cup cream, corn syrup and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir until smooth and blended, about 5 minutes. Gradually stir in remaining cream. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until a candy thermometer reads 238° (soft-ball stage), about 10 minutes., Remove from the heat. Quickly pour into prepared pan (do not scrape saucepan). Cool., For ganache layer: Line a 9-in. round pan with foil and grease the foil with 1 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle with pecans; set aside. Place chocolate chips in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Pour over pecans. Cool to room temperature; chill until set., For frosting: In a microwave, melt unsweetened chocolate and chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. In a large bowl, beat the confectioners' sugar, butter, milk, cocoa and vanilla until smooth; beat in melted chocolate., To assemble cake: Place one cake layer on a serving plate; remove foil from caramel and place on top. Top with another cake layer; remove foil from ganache and place on top. Top with remaining cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake. Garnish as desired.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Generously spray 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with baking spray with flour.
• In large bowl, beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, water, oil, 1/4 cup caramel topping and the eggs with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in 3/4 cup pecans. Pour into pan.
• Bake 38 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 20 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Transfer cake to serving platter. In small microwavable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on High 20 to 30 seconds or until thin enough to pour over cake. Pour over cake. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.
• When ready to serve, pour 1/4 cup caramel topping over chocolate frosting; sprinkle with 1/4 cup pecans. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Steps:

• For the candied pecans: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Whisk the sugar, cinnamon and salt together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white and water together until frothy. Toss the pecans in the egg white mixture, then add the sugar mixture and toss until the pecans are evenly coated. Spread the coated pecans on a baking sheet. Bake, stirring every 15 minutes, until the pecans are evenly browned, 1 hour.
• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut two 8-inch parchment circles and use to line the bottoms of two 8-inch cake pans.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the four, white sugar, black and Dutch-process cocoa powders, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the buttermilk, brown sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Whisk in the hot coffee until completely incorporated--the batter will be quite thin.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then slide an offset spatula around the edge of the pans and flip out the cakes. Cool on a rack for another 30 minutes.
• For the buttercream: Combine the egg whites and powdered sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 5 minutes. (This helps dissolve all the sugar and prevents that grainy texture you often get with American buttercreams.) You will now have what looks like a really runny royal icing. Make sure your butter is soft. Set the mixer to medium and gradually add the butter, scraping down the bowl occasionally. Add the vanilla extract. Beat for 10 minutes on medium. Swirl in the butterscotch caramel.
• For the ganache: Heat the cream in a microwave just until boiling, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the cream over the chocolate and allow to sit for 1 minute. Stir until the ganache is silky smooth--it look a bit curdled at first but will eventually come together. Leave the ganache on the counter to cool until it has reached the consistency of peanut butter. At this point it is ready to be used to frost the outside of the cake. (Makes 2 cups.)
• To assemble the cake: Remove the parchment paper from the bottoms of cakes. Split the cakes in half horizontally with a serrated knife (to make four layers). Place one layer on a serving platter. Spread a generous 3/4 cup buttercream over the layer to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Sprinkle 3 to 4 tablespoons candied pecans over the buttercream. Place a second cake layer over the first and repeat witht the buttercream and pecans. Continue with a third layer. Top the cake with the final layer and gently frost the outside with ganache.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour the bottom and sides of a 12-inch stainless steel, oven-safe skillet with shortening and flour, tapping out any excess flour.
• Combine cake mix, water, eggs, and oil in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter into the bottom of the prepared skillet.
• Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen and carefully invert onto a large round platter. Let cool, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine 1/2 of the caramel topping with the baking chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on high until chocolate is melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Stir mixture until combined and smooth; carefully spread over the cake.
• Sprinkle cake with pecans and drizzle remaining caramel topping over top. Let stand until topping is set. Cut into wedges to serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
• In large bowl, beat dry pudding mix and milk with whisk 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of the caramel sauce. Stir in cake mix and 1 cup of the chocolate chips until well blended. Spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle pecans and remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips over top.
• Bake 33 to 38 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out almost clean. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
• When ready to serve, in small microwavable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on High 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle. Using fork, drizzle warmed frosting and remaining 1/4 cup caramel sauce over cake. Use large spoon for serving. Stored covered in airtight container at room temperature.