Steve and I were recently invited to a “Chopped” food night at some friends house. For those of you that aren’t familiar with “Chopped”, which I wasn’t myself. Because Steve and I don’t have cable we had never seen the show before. The idea is that you are given secret ingredients to make a specific portion of dinner – whether that be the appetizer, main course, or dessert – and you have to come up with something off the cuff. Steve and I were assigned dessert, which I LOVE and we came up with that!
Clementine Chocolate Cake w/ Vanilla Pudding Frosting
Clementine Chocolate Cake w/ Vanilla Pudding Frosting is what happens when you're given a surprise box of ingredients! Turned out delicious, give it a try!
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix or any other chocolate cake mix
- 1 c. water
- 1/2 c. vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 3-4 Clementines enough to make 1/3 c. juice
Frosting/Filling
- 2 pkg 8 oz. each cream cheese, softened
- 2 Snack Pack vanilla pudding cups
- 1/2 c. powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp. milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 pint fresh strawberries sliced, not frozen
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 F.
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Prepare cake according to package directions except using only 1 c. water and 1/3 c. Clementine juice instead of 1 1/3 c. of water.
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Divide batter between 2 greased bread pans evenly. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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While cake is baking, prepare frosting/filling. Beat together cream cheese, vanilla pudding, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until whipped and well blended.
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Cool cake completely. Slice in half horizontally. Spread a thin layer of filling and top with sliced strawberries in center of cake cover with top cake layer.
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Frost cake with remaining frosting. Sprinkle with Clementine zest if you desire.
Recipe Notes
[My 2 Cents]
So this may be a complete no brainer to you... but it wasn't to me! Don't forget to REFRIGERATE the cake after you assemble it, otherwise it WILL grow mold! Just and FYI :)
