Tuesday Treats: Chocolate Pudding Cake

Since we're camping this week I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes with you all...  Once I turned 12 I went camping every year until I was 18 with a group of girls (and adults that were supervising us) from our congregation.  We had this every year for the first 3 years I was there and I absolutely LOVE it! The first year I had this was a VERY rainy camping trip. In order to cook these, we had a tarp set up to block the rain. Most of us were huddled under that tarp as well as another tarp to keep dry. We'd occasionally lift up the tarp with a stick and buckets of water would pour off. The warm gooey cake was such a welcome warm treat to the dreary day.

I actually made this in the oven because it was windy outside and I didn't want to have to create a wind barrier to allow the cake to cook evenly and completely. All you really have to do when it is windy is to wrap foil around the outside of the dutch oven so the heat does not get blown away.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Make 1 box chocolate cake mix, according to package directions (cheating - yes, but if your camping it makes it so much easier!)

Melt 1 cup butter (in saucepan at home or in dutch oven over a low flame campfire or over freshly lit coals.)

Add 1 cup brown sugar,

 ½ cup cocoa

and 2 cups water

 Stir to combine.

It looks absolutely delicious! 

If you're like me, you'll snitch a taste right now...

Next add 1 bag miniature marshmallows (16 oz) to chocolate mixture

Stir until melted.

 This is another great time to snitch some of this... but don't say I told you to.

Keep stirring occasionally until all marshmallows are completely dissolved.

It will have a foamy top when all done.

Pour into baking dish (I used a 9.5 X 13.5 pan and placed it on a cookie sheet to bake in case of overflow.)

Good thing I did too, because the oven would have needed cleaned if I hadn't!

You'll just have to endure all these photos, I love photos of liquid being poured... especially when chocolate is involved!

Don't ask me why, I just do.

Then add the cake mixture to the chocolate-marshmallow goodness.

Here come some more pouring pictures:

Yummy, chocolate cake! 

I used a Chocolate Fudge cake mix, FYI.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. The toothpick test does not work with this cake - just letting you know.

If using a dutch oven - place coals on the ground (or in the fire pit or on aluminum foil) in a circle, place dutch oven on top.

Place more coals on top. The general rule is for a 350 degree recipe place the number of coals on top and bottom equal to inches of the dutch oven - for a 12 inch dutch oven place 12 coals on bottom and 12 coals on top.

Eat while hot!
Enjoy!