Chocolate Butterscotch Cake

Possible Cooking Methods:   Oven

When I was a kid, I always had a favorite chocolate bar and would immediately spend my weekly allowance on whatever was my current chocolate infatuation. For a while, that favorite was Hershey’s SKOR® bar – a thin slab of butter toffee coated with milk chocolate. These days, SKOR® is not as easy to find as it used to be. The good news is that the Heath® bar is very similar, just a little thicker, so you can use either for the cake topping. This recipe takes my favorite flavors of my childhood chocolate dreams and puts them together in a cake that will feed a crowd AND travels well, making it a great dessert to take to a party. You can also make it a day ahead of time, but remember to let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. It’s what is known as a “poke” cake – holes are poked into the cake layer and butterscotch sauce is poured into those holes to keep the cake moist and delicious. It’s easy to make your own butterscotch sauce instead of buying it, should you be so inclined. Simply combine 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of dark brown sugar, 1 cup of heavy cream and a teaspoon of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer it for 5 minutes. You’ll even impress yourself!

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

1¾ cups sugar

1¼ cups cocoa powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

1¼ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 (3.4-ounce) box chocolate pudding mix

2¼ cups milk

3 eggs, lightly beaten

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1½ teaspoons vanilla

12 ounces butterscotch sauce

1 (3.4-ounce) box butterscotch instant pudding mix

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup chopped SKOR® bars OR Heath bars® or toffee chips, for garnish

Oven Directions

Serves:8 to 10

Cooking Time:50 minutes

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 13-inch by 9-inch cake pan with butter.

2. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and chocolate pudding mix together in a large bowl. Pour in the milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and transfer the pan to the oven.

3. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

4. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Poke holes all over cake with a skewer, wiggling the skewer slightly to make the holes a little bigger. Pour the butterscotch sauce over the warm cake, spreading it evenly with a spatula so that the cake can absorb the sauce. Continue to let the cake cool completely.

5. Use an electric mixer to whip the butterscotch pudding mix and milk together for a few minutes. In a separate clean bowl, whip the heavy cream into stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the butterscotch pudding until no streaks of white remain. Spread the whipped butterscotch topping over the cooled cake.

6. Garnish with chopped SKOR® bars, Heath® bars or toffee chips. Refrigerate the cake until you are ready to serve.