Yum Yum Cake; Boo-runch recipe #2

I also caused quite a stir with this recipe on facebook and at Boo-runch. This recipe, most often compared a caramel brownie, is called "Yum Yum Cake" by those who lived at the IWU Kappa Delta house, and were lucky enough to have Ruthie as our cook. Somehow I have been able to piece together how she made this recipe, because all I could get out of her was "I use german chocolate mix." After a few years at work, one of my mentees brought in a very similiar dish to Yum Yum Cake for my birthday (but she had put walnuts in it - Yum Yum Cake blasphemy!) From her recipe I was able to recreate the Yum Yum Cake of yore. Be prepared for this to be a huge hit. It is my most "in demand" recipe and isn't too hard once you apply my shortcuts. The original recipe called for melting down caramels with evaporated milk but there is no way Ruthie did that, and my substitution seems to work fine. Who remembers eating these at about 1 AM studying for Accounting finals? I sure do.

Here we go!

Ingredients:
1) 2 packages german chocolate cake mix
2) 2 sticks (1 cup) butter
3) 2/3 cu skim milk (or evaporated milk, or water if you are desperate)
4) 1 pkg Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chunks (semi-sweet morsels work as well)
5) Caramel ice cream topping (I buy the Smuckers Caramel sundae syrup kind)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 pan (or slightly bigger works as well. I like to use a glass lasagna pan).

Melt butter in microwave. Add milk and cake mix. Note: Batter will be like play-doh. Sometimes (especially if I'm feeling lazy) I add a tad bit more milk to the batter mix because it can be hard to get it all to mix together.

Bake HALF of the cake mixture for ten minutes. Tip: you will have to "spread" the batter out in the pan. It is a good idea to make a little "lip" around the edges because you will be pouring the caramel on top of it. If the caramel hits the edge of the pan it burns, rendering it inedible.

When you pull the cake out of the oven it will be kind of puffy. Let it cool.

Pour the caramel on top of the cooled cake. I use about 3/4 of the caramel syrup which I am estimating is 12 ounces. Then, sprinkle the chocolate chunks on top. I use between 1/2 to 3/4 of the bag. Note: if you do not let the bottom of the cake cool enough, the chocolate will melt into the caramel and you will not have that "chunk" bite in the cake. Still tastes good.

Spoon the remaining half of the cake mixture on top. This is a little difficult. A lot of times I wash my hands really good, press the batter into "patties," and lay them on top of the cake. It is okay if some caramel seeps through - if you remember Ruthie's did as well.

Bake for 15-25 more minutes. How to tell if it's done: I usually jiggle the pan. If it jiggles a TON, it needs more time. If it's fairly firm, pull it out. Err on the side of pulling it out early than leaving it in too long. There are no eggs or anything in the mixture so nothing really needs to "cook." The cake will harden over time. If I need it to harden quickly I put it in the refrigerator.

Enjoy! Let me know if you make it!