Tag Archives: layered dessert

Caramel Pecan Cup of Cake!

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Ruthanne

Take a plain cupcake and turn it into a layered work of art this Thanksgiving!

Everyone loves those beautiful layered trifle desserts. This recipe creates individual layered desserts. Aren’t they fun?? I used butter pecan cupcakes with yummy caramel sauce, pecans and homemade butter cream frosting. They were delicious! You can use this idea with literally ANY combination of flavors though! Get all the flavors of a “filled” cupcake- but SO much easier to assemble!

Plus, you can wrap them up in cello bags with pretty fall ribbon and ties for an elegant holiday dessert!

Can you tell that I enjoyed taking pictures of these!?! Here is how we made them (printable recipe here):

INGREDIENTS: (Makes 24 cups of cake!)

Cake:

One boxed cake mix (plus oil, water and eggs to make according to package). I used Betty Crocker’s Butter Pecan cake mix. It was AMAZING!!!!!!!

Caramel sauce:

32 unwrapped Kraft caramels
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Buttercream:

4 sticks of butter (softened)
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
You will also need 4-5 pecan halves per cup- and small clear Solo cups!

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to package and bake in 24 cupcake tins as directed by box (spray the pans with non-stick spray if you don’t use liners!). Cool.
Make caramel sauce by placing caramels, butter (1 stick) and sweetened condensed milk into a saucepan.
Melt over stove, stirring constantly, until caramels are entirely melted and smooth.
Cool and place in a zip-top bag.
Make buttercream by placing 4 sticks of softened butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
Use hand mixer to beat on high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Place frosting in a zip-top bag that has been fitted with a decorating tip. Set aside.
To assemble, cut a cupcake in half. Pipe a little bit of frosting into bottom of cup and press cupcake bottom in cup.
Clip a corner off the bag of caramel and pipe along edge of cup on top of cupcake bottom.

Press pecans into caramel along edges
Pipe a little frosting between pecans (only use a little- mine had a touch too much icing in the middle- you could even skip this step and just have frosting on the bottom and top)
Place top of cupcake on, pipe a little more caramel on top of cupcake, and pipe a swirl of frosting on top.
Add a pecan and decorate as desired. I used cute icing leaves by Wilton that I found at Michael’s.

You’ll want to wrap these up or put them in an air-tight container to keep them fresh. I chose cello bags and ribbon ties- and they made me smile 🙂 These stay fresh for 3-4 days when covered.

My thoughts: These got RAVE reviews. Personally, I thought they were a little sweet and I wished I had used less frosting (plus I ran out of frosting with 3 to go!) so use a little less than pictured (or make a little more…if you really like frosting!!) One of my friends HIGHLY recommended crumbled bacon as a layer in these 🙂 The GREAT news is that you literally can add anything you want to make these into your family’s favorite dessert! Enjoy!! ~r

Other yummy pecan and/or caramel treats here on Easybaked! (click on a photo to see the recipe)

Mud Pie!

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Ruthanne

A layer of dense cake, topped with fudge, chocolate mousse and whipped cream. Yum.

Life is mud right now. At least if you live in the midwest and regularly walk a dog. My pup’s little white paws and belly are just caked in mud after every trip down our walking trail. There’s one kind of mud I don’t mind though- the edible kind!

Have you ever tried Mississippi Mud pie? I feel like there’s not an “official” recipe for this pie- sometimes pudding, sometimes marshmallow…I just put several things I love into an Oreo crust and called it mud. And it is delicious. I really think you’ll like it!

Here’s how we did it: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

One pre-made Oreo crumb crust

Cake layer:

1/2 bag of Nestle dark chocolate chips (this ends up being just a little less than 1 cup)
2 egg yolks
2 Tablespoons vanilla
3 Tablespoons of heavy cream
3 Tablespoons of powdered sugar

Fudge layer:

remaining 1/2 bag of Nestle dark chocolate chips (this ends up being just a little less than 1 cup)
1/2 cup of heavy cream

Chocolate Mousse Layer:

1 Packet of Dream Whip
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup powdered sugar

White whipped topping:

1 packet of Dream Whip
1/2 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

Cake Layer:

Unwrap Oreo crust and preheat oven to 350F degrees
Melt chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until smooth.
In a separate bowl combine eggs, cream, vanilla and powdered sugar.
Add cream mixture to chocolate and blend well. Pour into crust and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until center is set. Cool completely.

Fudge Layer:

Melt remaining chocolate chips and cream together in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until melted and smooth.
Pour all but about 1/8 cup over cooled cake and allow this layer to firm up (I placed it in the refrigerator while I made the remaining 2 layers).
Pour remaining 1/8 cup into a small zip-top bag to use later for drizzle.

Chocolate Mousse Layer:

Add all ingredients to mixing bowl and beat on high for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
Spoon on top of fudge layer and spread to edges.

Whipped topping:

Add all ingredients to mixing bowl and beat on high for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
Spoon on top and spread to edges.
Take your small bag with 1/8 cup chocolate fudge filling (The one you set aside earlier), clip corner of bag and drizzle over the top. (I added a little shaved chocolate too)
Enjoy!

My thoughts: This is really as good as it looks…dense fudge bottom topped with the creamiest chocolate toppings. I usually eat that one bite I take off for a picture and give every bit of the rest away. But I ate the whole piece. Bad day for the diet, but a wonderful day to really savor this rich chocolate dessert. This is on my list of “must-make-again” recipes! I hope you get a chance to try it and enjoy it as much as I did!!!! Enjoy! ~r

Is chocolate the only way to do dessert in your house? Here are some other incredible chocolate treats from Easybaked~ just click on the photo to see the recipe!

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Posted in Cakes, Pies and tagged beautiful dessert, best, cake, chocolate, chocolate dessert, chocolate mousse, cream, dessert, fudge, fun, ganache, layered dessert, mississippi mud pie, mousse, mud pie, recipe, spring, whipped topping. Bookmark the permalink.

Ice Cream Cake!!!

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Ruthanne

Easy and yummy- this ice cream cake will serve a ton of people and they will be so surprised that you didn’t get it at the store! I just made it for a group of people and it easily served 18. Quick– before summer is over– bring on the ICE CREAM!!!

INGREDIENTS:

10-12 ice cream sandwiches (any flavor- I used cookies and cream ones)
2 half-gallon containers of ice cream (any flavor- pick ones that go well together!)- you will not use all of both flavors in this cake.
2 jars of hot fudge sauce at room temperature
1 package of Oreo cookies
1/2 tub of Cool Whip

DIRECTIONS:

Line the sides of a 9-Inch Springform Pan
with strips of parchment paper. Use non-stick spray to hold the strips in place.

Cut ice cream bars into 4 like this: (YUM!!)

Place the cut bars along the edge of the spring form pan like this:

Crush the Oreos in a plastic bag- or in a food processor.
Press 1/3 of the Oreo crumbs in the bottom of the pan.
Spoon both jars of fudge into a large sturdy ziplock bag. Clip the tip off and drizzle about 1/3 over the top.
Spoon softened ice cream (about 1/3 of tub) over layer. (I scoop ice cream into bowl and stir it until it’s smooth- like a thick shake– it’s easier to spread then.) Repeat twice, reserving a few cookie crumbs and a little fudge for decorating. (You will use one flavor of ice cream twice and one only once.)
Spoon Cool Whip over top, sprinkle with cookies and drizzle with fudge. Chill immediately overnight.
Before serving, remove outer ring of pan and peel away parchment paper. Allow cake to sit at room temperature for a few minutes so it is easier to cut.

ENJOY!!!

My thoughts: I love this recipe— I’ve made this cake many many times over the years- it is the perfect recipe for when you need to make something ahead of an event. WORK FAST!! Cut your ice cream sandwiches fast (I sometimes keep 1/2 of them in the freezer until the 1st half are cut) Have everything ready and put it together quickly and get it in the freezer. If you linger the ice cream will begin to drip from the bottom of the pan (which is still ok- just get it on a plate and into the freezer. ) You can freeze between layers if you want to take your time. I just throw it all together at once and YUM!!! Hope you enjoy this summer treat!