I 'created' a cake recipe that I thought I would share. I was a little nervous about it because 1) I hadn't made it before and 2) I was making it for guests. It's typically not a good idea to do that, but I had the blessing of the food gods tonight.
I made a homemade chicken parm pizza with herb focaccia crust which took about 3 hours to make but was worth it because it turned out delicious. And then for dessert we had this cake. It didn't take 3 hours to make. It was pretty simple, but very impressive. I was accused of buying it at the store, but JJ vouched for me.
Chocolate Raspberry Cake
CAKE
Devil's food cake mix (I used one of the supermoist mixes)
1 can of raspberry pie filling
FROSTING
whipping cream
1 can of raspberry pie filling
1 box of instant vanilla pudding
1. Make the cake mix according to the box.
2. I used 2-9 inch square pans (you could use round pans). Put about 1/4 of the batter in the first pan. Then spoon half of the raspberry filling on top of the batter and gently smooth over so it is spread evenly. Then cover the raspberry layer with 1/4 of the cake batter. Repeat in the 2nd pan.
3) Bake as directed on the box.
*After cooling to room temperature, I wrapped the cakes in plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator to frost the next day.
4) Mix the pudding mix and raspberries in a bowl.
5) Whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form (don't forget to add sugar to sweeten).
6) Stir the whipping cream in the raspberry mixture until combined.
7) Let sit for 5 minutes and then frost the cake.
*Thawed Whipping cream could be used too. I just prefer to make my own.
8) Chill in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.
The fruit in this recipe could definitely be changed. Cherries would be great and I'm thinking about trying orange because chocolate and oranges are one of JJ's favorite combinations and it would be interesting to see how it works in cake form. Mint would also be good I think. For the filling and frosting mint jelly could be used I think.