I Don't Know How I Made it Through High School Or Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

For those of you who might not be avid readers of my high school transcripts, I have always been pretty poor at math. In fact, in my sophomore (?) year of high school school I repeated geometry. I can't remember if I had failed miserably the year before, or if it was just close enough to failing to warrant giving it another shot, but there was something about that class that just made my brain shut down. So I took it again.

I don't want to say I'm more of a creative type because I know people a lot more creative than me. I'm easy with ideas, I can picture what the thing should look like, but when it comes to engineering it I'm basically useless. To support a bunch of half marathon runners a few weeks ago I had an idea for a sign that had a back part that would spin around to reveal 8 different names - keeping me from having to make 8 different signs. In my head, the sign would spin around a gold fastener which I figured would be easy to find (they weren't), and it would be no big deal to sit down and measure it all out to make sure each name fit in the space I provided. This would be my greatest running achievement.

Peanut Butter is My Crack

There's that old saying that there are a few things in life we can be absolutely sure of. I'm pretty sure the examples are friends, and family, and that the sun will come up in the East, etc. Those things are all lame. The one thing you can absolutely, always be sure of? Peanut butter tastes good all the time. Peanut butter all day, every day. If there was a chance we could vote peanut butter into office it would be a good idea if we all put our contrasting jelly ideas aside and elect it a winner. This is how serious I am. 

Last night I had a little free time and decided around 8PM that I was going to make these cookies I found on Pinterest. I was short one very key ingredient, chocolate chips, so after a short pilgrimage to Giant and a conversation with a man who couldn't decide on the best kind of frozen pizza (Red Baron! Because it's not delivery it's DiGiorno is for rich people eating dinner in their hot air balloons) I was able to come home and crank out these cookies. 

Dump Cake Part 2!

So the only thing I didn't actually bake so far has the most amount of views on this blog. I couldn't figure out why, especially since I didn't have any photos to accompany the post. I figured it must have been my witty writing and intelligent banter.

Then I had this thought - it must be because the cake sounds freaking amazing. And it did. So last week I had a few minutes to actually try and bake it- I say a few minutes because the whole thing took me about 8 minutes to put together. And it turns out, I was right. This cake really could make people give chocolate up for lent, and after eating it I think it might also cause divorces, marriages, spontaneous pregnancies, fault lines and any other kind of environmental catastrophe/something awesome. 

Now that I've actually made the cake, I HIGHLY encourage you to try it. Below are some after photos to help convince you. Forget the before because it all happened so fast. Again, I can't stress how easy this was so if you need something quick and easy that tastes like something you'd buy at an expensive restaurant, this is it.

Crazy right?

Up close and personal.

And this, which is not related, is a shot of the Snickers cupcakes I made for my mom last week. Second batch worked just as well! Check out the sweet cupcake stand I made too!

If you've made the dump cake, let me know!

Karen A's Chocolate Dump Cake

This recipe has the word dump in it. Sooo...it's got to be good.

I found this recipe in the AllRecipes.com Dinner Spinner app last night on my iphone. (I would highly recommend that app, by the way. I've found a bunch of good stuff just spinning around through the desserts and entrees sections.)

So the fact that it had dump in the title was intriguing, but the fact that it calls for a package of instant chocolate pudding, a package of chocolate cake mix AND two cups of chocolate chips kind of threw me. This is like chocolate Disney World. Chocolate Space Mountain. This sounds like the reason why people give chocolate up for Lent.

I haven't had the opportunity to make this yet, but it's definitely on my list. So I think it's safe to say that, yeah, I'd bake that.
(i finally worked that in!)

Here's the link for the recipe on AllRecipes.com's site:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Karen-As-Chocolate-Dump-Cake/Detail.aspx

And here's the breakdown of ingredients and instructions for a quick look:
**make sure you go to the website to see what they look like!

Serves 24

Ingredients

• 1 (5 ounce) package non-instant chocolate pudding mix
• 2 1/3 cups milk
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 
  
• Directions
• 
  
• -Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
• -Combine chocolate pudding and milk in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until thick, stirring frequently.
• -Remove pan from heat and add in dry cake mix. Mix together and pour into the lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Evenly spread the chocolate chips over the top of the cake.
• -Bake at 350 degrees F(175 degrees C) for 40 to 45 minutes. Let cake cool and serve.

If you try it out let me know how it tastes! 

Source:  Allrecipes.com /  Karen A's Chocolate Dump Cake Recipe / By: Jann De Circe 
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Karen-As-Chocolate-Dump-Cake/Detail.aspx