Yummy Gooey Chocolate Caramel Cake and other Birthday Surprises

Last month was my husbands 30th birthday. We wanted to do something special for the big day.
Baby Girl and I made him a Yummy Gooey chocolate caramel cake as requested by the birthday boy, while Bubs so graciously took a nap. Scroll down for cake recipe.
We also made yummy mini cupcakes and cake balls using same recipe to take to daddy's work.
And then that night we had a surprise Birthday Party (that may not have been much of a surprise).
This was my center piece I made for our table and while it is Halloweenish I am still showing you because it could be adapted to any holiday. I made the lollies using this tutorial. And then just added whatever embellishments I wanted buttons, feathers, glitter, etc.The large sparkly glitter one was designed by baby girl. She wanted sparkles and googly eyes. I decorated the sticks with paint, ribbon or more glitter to match. The spiky balls were created by painting a Styrofoam ball (bought in a package at the dollar store) yellow and then hot gluing candy corns to them. Side story, my husband hates candy corn and when he saw the bag of candy corn on the table he freaked and said no one in his house was eating that crap (in a funny, but serious way). I had to inform him we would not be eating it I was using it to make decorations he was ok with that, just no eating of the stuff. I used another styrofoam ball and painted it black for a spider using black pipe cleaners for the legs. To keep all my skewers up right in the vase I filled it with my husbands favorite candy (he allows the eating of M&Ms and chocolate bars) too bad the candy only lasted for about a week then all my skewers tipped over, so maybe it is better to fill the vase with something non-edible.
I also made these super easy super cheap stands for the food. I like to have my food at different levels on the table it gives more interest. Since I only have one cake stand and I was using it for the cake I took plastic plates and bowls from the dollar store then hot glued the bowls to the bottom of the plates some getting one bowl and some getting 2 creating the different platter heights. best part was the were cheap and disposable so I didn't have any extra dishes to wash, but it you want a fancier look you can do the same thing with real dishes.

Happy 30th Birthday Sexy. I love You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yummy Gooey Chocolate Caramel Cake

Chocolate Cake

1 box of your favorite chocolate cake mix
1 small package chocolate pudding
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup milk (or half and half)
3 eggs
1/2 package mini chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients and back in bunt pan for 50 min.

While cake is backing prepare caramel gooeyness (made up word I know)

1-cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4-cup milk
1-teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, and milk. Cook and stir over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

When cake is done baking remove from pan on to cake plate and pierce it multiple times with a straw, then pour the caramel over the cake. I do it a little at a time to let some seep into the cake before pouring on more.

For the frosting (taken from Paula Deen)

1/2-cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3-cup heavy cream, or more if needed
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners’ sugar
1-teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and stir in brown sugar and cream. Bring to a boil, and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Beat with a hand-held electric mixer until it reaches a spreading consistency. At this time it may be necessary to add a tablespoon of heavy cream, or more, if frosting gets too thick. Just be sure to add cream is small amounts because you can always “add to”, but you can’t take away.

For the cupcakes and cake balls I used the same cake and frosting. Cake balls were made by mixing the baked cake and frosting then forming it into balls and placing them on a cookie sheet. I then place the balls in the freezer for about an hour so they stick together. Then I dip it in melted chocolate and stick them back in the freezer to harden. (If you google cake balls I am sure you can find a more detailed recipe for cake balls if you prefer. Maybe someday I will do a detailed tutorial.)

Happy Baking and checkout these linky parties for more inspiration.