Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Wickedly Decadent Chocolate Dump Cake for #Halloween from author @DarylWoodGerber

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Wickedly Decadent Chocolate Dump Cake for #Halloween from author @DarylWoodGerber

I just learned it's
National Chocolate Day!

But it's also my day for a Halloween post, and I had something all planned. So guess what?

You get two recipes for the price of one!
Two Halloween treats. One that's plenty of chocolate!

Let's party!

From Daryl aka Avery:

First of all, do you have a few Halloween-themed mysteries to read this coming week?

If not, try Stirring the Plot.
[Yes, I know Fudging the Books is my latest, but it's Halloween!]

Or try Krista Davis's The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer!
Try our friend Janet Bolin's Night of the Living Thread or
Kylie Logan's The Legend of Sleepy Harlow!

And now for today's menu:

Wickedly Decadent Chocolate Dump Cake

and

Brie Pumpkin Appetizer! Fun for all ages.

I love Halloween. It's a time to enjoy seeing all the kiddies in their costumes, or dress up yourself - do you dress up? I used to love to do so. Maybe that's why I was an actress before I became a writer. Which of my costumes do you like best? I was definitely into "glamor." That's my little sister in the witch hat. [Witch hats play prominently in STIRRING THE PLOT.]

It's also time to watch scary movies (not me - I'm not a scary movie girl), and time to eat! Salty or sweet. Which do you prefer? [Here are some recipes from Stirring the Plot. Click the titles for the links, shared previously on Mystery Lovers Kitchen.]

Sunflower Seed Brittle

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE USING SKULL MOLD

Or do you just like to party???

Witchy woman cocktail

I also love seeing the decorations in my neighborhood and in my local stores. They are getting spookier by the year, I think, but I don't mind. They're fun!

What do you do for Halloween? Do you party? Do you trick or treat? Do you wait for trick or treaters with a bowl full of goodies? Whatever you do, enjoy the "creativity". The kids sure do!

To make the Wickedly Decadent Chocolate Dump Cake...it was an accident! I was browsing through my cabinet when I found some cocoa nibs. I wasn't quite sure what to do with them. I bought them when I learned my husband needed to eat sugar-free and thought, aha! But they aren't quite chocolate.

What are they? Cacao nibs are cocoa beans that are roasted and separated from their hulls and then they are broken into smaller pieces. You can find them at health food stores and can eat them as a snack or add to baked goods.

They would go great in granola. But they're nuttier in texture than chocolate. So I decided to add them as a "nut" texture to this dump cake. Added to the mix, they made the texture of the cake wickedly fun! They also added a good visual oomph to the frosting, too!

WICKEDLY DECADENT CHOCOLATE DUMP CAKE

Ingredients:

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix (*regular or gluten-free – I used Pamela’s gluten-free brand)

1 pkg. chocolate instant pudding

4 eggs

¾ cup safflower oil

¾ cup milk

½ cup cacao nibs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Dump all the ingredients except the cacao nibs into a bowl. Mix. Now gently mix in the cacao nibs. How easy is that?

Pour into greased bundt pan. Cook 45-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. The top should spring back if pressed lightly with your finger.

Cool 20-30 minutes in the pan, then slip a knife around the outside edge and around the edge of the center tube. Turn the cake over and let cool completely.

Drizzle with chocolate glaze icing and top with more cacao nibs, if desired. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

And, now, here's the recipe for a Brie "pumpkin" appetizer. So easy and so yummy.

The kids had a great time helping me "carve."

I found this recipe in the Betty Crocker Halloween Cookbook. Whenever I research cookbooks for the next in the series, I scan bookstores and Amazon and other book sites looking for fun covers and then I browse the pages, and often I buy the book. This is in my collection - great for kids! By the way, I keep a list of the cookbooks in all my Cookbook Nook books on my website, under "more about the Cookbook Nook World" so you can reference them. Here's that link: cookbook list.

Boo!!

I have to share a tidbit... When I went looking for the link for the Betty Crocker Halooween Cookbook on Amazon, guess which book was recommend right below it? Mine!

Pumpkin Brie

This couldn't be simpler!

Ingredients:

8 ounce round of Brie

1/4 cup apricot jam or marmalade

Crackers and apples for display

Directions:

Remove a round of Brie from the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature. Using a warm knife, "carve" your pumpkin face, removing a portion of cheese about 1/2" deep for the mouth, nose, and eyes. Using a teaspoon, fill the cheese cavity with apricot jam or marmalade. Serve with "orange" crackers and apple slices. A tasty treat for all ages!

Savor the mystery!

Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames

Tasty ~ Zesty ~ Dangerous!