Chocolate Toffee Cake

...also known as "Heath Bar Cake." Pseudo live-blogged during the baking process... Pay VERY close attention to the cake pan selection in step 1.



This is the best cake ever and it's not too hard to make (psst... it's from a mix - with a twist!).

I fashioned this recipe from my aunt's description of how she made my mom's birthday cake and the "ice cream cake" recipe from the Omnomicon and Playing House. The secret to this delicious cake is to take any box cake mix and substitute a pint of melty ice cream in a complementary flavor for the oil called for in the mix instructions. Add the eggs and water and mix as directed. Trust me, it makes all the difference.

Chocolate Toffee Cake
adapted from all the sources above

Cake ingredients
1 box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix (or suitable substitute)
1 pint Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra Ice cream
1 c water
3 large eggs

Topping ingredients
6-8 oz caramel sundae topping
6-8 oz butterscotch sundae topping

Frosting
1/2 pint whipping cream
1/4 c sugar
4 Heath Bars, broken into small chunks



1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a cake pan (DON'T use bundt, I had a catastrophe this morning) with your choice of grease and unsweetened cocoa powder (I use pam w/ flour or butter and Ghirardelli cocoa powder). I recommend using a metal or glass cake pan where you can serve the cake in the pan, rather than a layer or bundt cake. After step four, the cake can start to fall apart and end up all over the floor, like mine did this morning.



2. Mix the above cake ingredients thoroughly for 3 minutes in the bowl of a mixer on medium speed (or by hand if you like).



3. Pour into greased cake pan and bake for 45 minutes (or consult your box mix instructions for cupcakes, mini cupcakes, etc.)




4. Transfer cake in pan to wire rack. While cake is still warm, poke several holes in the cake with a wooden spoon handle. Pour toffee and butterscotch toppings over the cake. I like to mix them together in a measuring cup to make this part easier. It will seem like it is way too much sundae topping but trust me, it's not.

5. Let cake cool on the rack. If you're in a hurry, you can speed this process up by putting the cake in the fridge.

6. Make basic whipped cream frosting by whipping together the whipping cream and sugar in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Frost cake and sprinkle heath bar pieces on top. You can also use cool whip but whipped cream frosting isn't hard to make and it tastes much better. If you like super-thick frosting, double the frosting recipe.

7. Refrigerate for at least an hour before consuming. Enjoy!