I will start off by saying this recipe in no way, shape, or form is 21 day fix approved but it is damn good. When it comes to eating healthy, I live by the 80/20 rule. If you eat well 80% of the time the other 20% doesn't f#cking matter. So file this recipe under your "so bad it's good" folder and you can thank me later.
Several years ago Martha Stewart did a spread of candy bar themed desserts for her Halloween magazine. The recipes included 100 Grand Cake and Snickers Torte but she was missing one of my favorites, the Whatchamacallit. If you've never had a Whatchamacallit candy bar, you are missing out! It has all of things that make life good: peanut butter, cripsies, caramel and chocolate. Now can you see why this needs to live in cake form!?
Lucky for you, I was able to adapt Martha's 100 Grand Recipe and mix it will Ina Garten's peanut butter frosting to make my very own Whatchamacallit Cake. Also, I threw in a few shortcuts because those 2 broads always over-complicate things and this working mom ain't got time for that! Anyway, this is a definite crowd-pleaser. In fact, this is the #1 requested dessert recipe among my friends. If you want to be the MVP of your Super Bowl party, I highly suggest you make this cake.
Don't let the long ingredient list fool you. This cake is actually pretty simple to make. I use a box cake as my base, add in a box of instant pudding and a cup of sour cream to make it extra moist (a trick from my friend Michelle). While the cake bakes you prepare the chocolate cripsies, caramel sauce and icing. Then you layer all together to make one hella good candy bar cake. Detailed recipe is below but if you are like me and learn better by visuals, I've included a snazzy step by step slideshow below. Happy baking ya'll!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- Your favorite chocolate boxed cake - I prefer Duncan Hines Devil's Food + the ingredients the box calls for (Mine called for 1/3 cup oil, 1 cup water and 3 eggs)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 box chocolate instant pudding
For the Milk-Chocolate Crunch:
- 1 cup Rice Krispies cereal
- 6 ounces milk chocolate, melted (I use Hershey's)
For the caramel sauce:
- 25 caramel squares - unwrapped
- 3-4 tablespoons water (or enough to cover the bottom of your pan)
For the frosting:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Directions
Follow the instructions on the cake box. Here's what mine said: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the cake: blend cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a large bowl at low speed until moistened. Mix in one bag instant pudding and 1 cup of sour cream. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Pour batter evenly into 2 round pans and bake immediately.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely in pans.
While the cake bakes, make the milk-chocolate crunch. Melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, microwaving in 30 second increments. Stirring every 30 seconds until the chocolate is smooth and completely melted. Should take between 1-2 minutes total. Fold Rice Krispies into melted milk chocolate until completely coated. Spread mixture about 1/4 inch thick onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze until set, about 30 minutes. Chop into small pieces. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Make the caramel sauce: Put unwrapped caramels into a saucepan. Cover with a small layer of water. Bring to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Be careful not to burn. Once the caramels are completely melted, remove from heat, transfer to a glass bowl, and let cool.
Peanut Butter Icing: Mix the powdered sugar, butter, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt with an electric mixer. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is smooth.
Assemble the cake: Turn out both cakes from pan. Trim the tops if needed (you will want them even) Place bottom layer on a rotating cake stand or plate. Ice the sides and top of the first cake with peanut butter frosting. Spread 1/2 cup chopped milk-chocolate crunch on top of that cake. Drizzle 1/2 the caramel sauce on top. Place the top layer of cake, frost the rest of the cake and finish off with the other 1/2 of the milk-chocolate crunch, and drizzle the entire cake with the remaining caramel.
Treat yo'self to the best candy bar themed cake you've ever had.
