A fellowship dinner at church was the perfect excuse to make a chocolate dessert.  (But then you know me- ANY excuse is good enough to make something chocolate!)

Dagmar had checked out a Pillsbury Bake-Off Desserts Cookbook from the library, and after drooling through all the amazing pictures, decided to try the Caramel In- Between Cake.

I really don’t want to confess how many pieces I ate! The chocolate- caramel combination is one of my favorites.

Caramel In-Between Fudge Cake

Best of the Pillsbury Bake-Off  Desserts

Filling:

28 caramels (half of 14-oz. bag) up wrapped
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 can (14-oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

Cake:

1 box (19.5 oz.) dark chocolate cake mix with pudding
1 cup water
1 tablespoon shortening, if desired
3 eggs

Frosting and Garnish:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 envelopes (1 oz. each) premelted unsweetened baking chocolate or 2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate melted
3 tablespoons half-and-half or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease bottom only of 13X9-inch pan with shortening; lightly flour. In 2-quart saucepan, place all filling ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat about 8 minutes, stirring constantly, until caramels are melted.

2. In large bowl, beat all cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Spread half of batter (about 2 cups) evenly in pan. Bake 20 minutes.

3. Spread filling evenly over partially baked cake; cover with remaining batter. Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

4. In small bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter, the chocolate, half-and-half and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, beat 2 or 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Frost cooked cake. Sprinkle almonds over top.

Enjoy!

I not only have a chocolate addiction, but I’m also addicted to cookbooks. Finding a cookbook that features chocolate is like striking gold!

I must say, that I have looked at many chocolate cookbooks over the years, but not many have found their way to my collection. Why? Because not all chocolate cookbooks are created equal.

The Hershey’s Chocolate Cookbook , however,  is a classic.

It’s filled with real recipes – you know that kind that use real ingredients that I already have in my cupboard or can easily find at my local grocery store.

The directions are easy to follow – not complicated and don’t call for strange or unusual processes.

But the real highlight of this book is the gorgeous full-cover picture for every recipe.  And I mean gorgeous!

These photographers are amazing! My kids are forever leafing through the book, drooling over the pictures and begging me to make something.

Which is what I should be doing right now – making something chocolate – something warm and rich and gooey.

Now how’s turn is it to choose the recipe?