Recipe: Turtle Sundae Cake

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sister, Dauna!  (No numbers y’all).  But – I’m sure she’d feel the same way I do. “No candles on my cake.  It would look like the burning of Atlanta.”

For today’s recipe, a cake!  Wish I could make it for you in person, Dauna.

Turtle Sundae Cake

1 box German chocolate cake mix
6 Tablespoons margarine
1 package (14 oz.) caramels
1 cup chopped pecans
½ cup evaporated milk
1 cup milk chocolate chips
shredded coconut (optional – which I do not add because coconut is gross)
milk chocolate frosting

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Remove the wrapping from caramels and place in the top of a double boiler.  Add the evaporated milk and margarine.  Place over boiling water to melt.

Stir occasionally.  Stir chopped nuts into caramel mixture and blend well.  

Mix cake mix according to package directions.  Set aside ½ of the batter.  Pour the remaining half of the batter into a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch cake pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.  Pour the caramel mixture over the cake and sprinkle with chocolate chips and coconut if desired.  Pour remaining half of cake batter over the caramel mixture and bake for 20 to 25 minutes longer or until the cake springs back at touch.  Cool.  Frost with rich and creamy style milk chocolate frosting. 

Y’all Enjoy! 

Recipe: Easy, Simple, Elegant – Caramel Custard Cups

Think you don’t have enough ingredients to make a simple, elegant dessert?  Think again.  This recipe has seven, COUNT ‘EM, SEVEN ingredients.  It is one of my favorite desserts passed on by my Nanaw.  Now, I know what you’re thinking “isn’t that just a plain old flan?”   Well – yes and no.  My grandmother received this recipe from her mother and her mother’s mother, etc. etc. etc.  A bunch of little German women with a little bit of French thrown in there for good measure.  Hence, she called them Caramel Custard Cups.  So I was curious and punched flan in over at Merriam Websters to discover the origin and viola! – justification.  I love good old justification, especially when it comes to my daily madness.

M-W.com’s explanation of flan

Etymology:

French, from Old French flaon, from Late Latin fladon-, flado flat cake, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German flado flat cake

Date:

1846

1 a: an open pie containing any of various sweet or savory fillings b: custard baked with a caramel glaze

So she wasn’t “storying” to me – it really was German after all.  Ahhhh – relief!

This dessert is so easy and everyone thinks you’re a culinary genius because it looks so fancy-schmancy on their plate.  Give it a whirl or twirl or whatever blows your skirt up.  I think you’ll like it.

Nanaw’s Caramel Custard Cups (aka flan)

4 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup evaporated milk (skimmed)

2/3 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

dash salt

• Set oven at 350 degrees.
• Press brown sugar into four (4) custard cups (1 tablespoon for each cup).
• Mix eggs, milk, water, sugar, vanilla and salt.
• Pour mixture carefully over brown sugar so you don’t disturb the brown sugar on the bottom.
• Set cups in a shallow pan in 1 inch of HOT water.  (I put the pan in the oven first and add the hot water just before closing the oven door because I don’t want to end up in the emergency room with 3rd degrees burns after sloshing hot water on myself.  I avoid pain whenever possible.)
• Bake 50 minutes or until knife inserted near edge comes out clean.  Loosen edges with knife.
• Unmold on pretty serving saucer with some fresh fruit.

Ya’ll Enjoy!