Description
Delectable turtle caramel cake blends rich chocolate, gooey caramel, and crunchy pecans into a heavenly dessert. Chocolate cake layers with caramel drizzle and pecan crumbles create an irresistible sweet experience you’ll savor to the last bite.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup (120 milliliters) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (240 milliliters) water
- 1 cup (240 milliliters / 8 fl oz) caramel sauce or dulce de leche
- 1 cup (120 grams / 4.2 oz) chopped pecans
- ½ cup (90 grams / 3.2 oz) mini chocolate chips
- 1 container (8 oz / 225 grams) whipped topping (or 2 cups whipped cream)
- ¼ cup (60 milliliters / 2 fl oz) caramel sauce, for drizzling
- ¼ cup (60 milliliters / 2 fl oz) chocolate syrup, for drizzling
- ¼ cup (30 grams / 1 oz) chopped pecans, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare: Fire up the oven to 350F (175C) and coat a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Mix the chocolate cake batter according to package instructions and pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake and Cool: Bake until the cake achieves a golden hue, then remove and let rest for 10 minutes while maintaining residual warmth.
- Create Flavor Channels: Puncture the cake’s surface using a wooden spoon handle, generating strategic pathways for flavor infiltration.
- Caramel Infusion: Lavishly drench the perforated cake with caramel sauce, ensuring comprehensive coverage by guiding the liquid into every crevice with a flexible spatula.
- Texture Enhancement: Sprinkle chopped pecans and miniature chocolate chips across the caramel-saturated landscape, allowing these textural elements to nestle into the moist terrain.
- Creamy Topping: Once the cake reaches ambient temperature, blanket the surface with a smooth, even layer of whipped topping, creating a pristine covering.
- Decorative Finale: Execute elegant drizzle techniques with caramel sauce and chocolate syrup, creating artistic linear patterns across the creamy surface. Garnish with remaining pecan fragments for visual and textural contrast.
- Chill and Serve: Transfer the assembled dessert to the refrigerator, allowing a minimum one-hour integration period for flavor development and structural refinement before serving.
Notes
- Caramel Absorption Technique: Create deep, evenly spaced holes while cake is warm to maximize caramel penetration and ensure rich, consistent flavor throughout each slice.
- Temperature Control: Allow cake to cool slightly before adding caramel to prevent immediate absorption and maintain structural integrity of the dessert base.
- Nut and Chocolate Distribution: Sprinkle pecans and chocolate chips immediately after caramel to help them naturally settle into sauce, creating a more integrated topping.
- Chilling Strategy: Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow flavors to meld and develop a more cohesive texture, enhancing overall taste experience.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 13
- Calories: 380
- Sugar: 34 g
- Sodium: 280 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 50 mg