The Butterfinger Cake

My grandmother's 86th birthday was actually on Thursday, February 12th, but today was the first day that my aunt from Columbus, my mother and I could get together to help celebrate. We started out with lunch at The Mill at our local Wadsworth location of Buehler's grocery store. Nothing was particularly noteworthy (or photo worthy) so I won't say anything more than this: The Mill's hollandaise was way better than The Grotto's was.

After lunch, we returned to my grandmother's condo to do cake and presents. My mother decided to make the cake this time instead of the normal way-too-sweet version at Giant Eagle. I present you with ... the Butterfinger cake:


And now, Mr. Deville, your close-up shot:


This is actually a pretty straightforward cake. Use a recipe for your favorite German chocolate cake (my mom's was from a mix). Personally I would make sure that you don't overcook the cake as it can get a little dry. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes in the cake using the back of a wooden spoon or a dowel rod. Take a jar of your favorite caramel sauce (or you could make your own caramel -- even better!) and pour it over the still hot cake. Then cover with a layer of crushed Butterfinger candies. My mom said that two normal sized Butterfingers fit this bill nicely. Now let cool completely to room temperature.

At this point, cover with Cool Whip (or lightly sweetened whipped cream) and then garnish with some additional crushed Butterfinger bars.

It was a nice cake and the less sweet topping (whipped cream / Cool Whip) was nice as the caramel could make the cake seem too sweet at times for me. Really the only thing I would have changed ingredient-wise would have been to add a little cocoa powder to the box mix. The cake just didn't seem chocolate-y enough to balance out the other flavors in the cake. But, that being said, I actually had two pieces and plan on taking some home with me as well.

Oh, yeah, Happy Birthday, Grandma!