Earthquake Cake and The Richter Scale

As National Days go, April 26th is a humdinger. National Audubon Day, Dissertation Day, Kids and Pets Day, Pretzel Day, Help a Horse Day, South Dakota Day, Arbor Day, Hairball Awareness Day (I’m not sure if that is for our cats or us) and finally National Richter Scale Day. The minute I realized it was National Richter Scale Day I knew I had the perfect recipe. After all, what does the Richter Scale measure but Earthquakes. Unless an earthquake strikes in the middle of nowhere and you happen to be there to experience the rocking and rolling, earthquakes are not a good thing. However; Earthquake Cakes are awesome! Traditionally speaking, Earthquake Cakes are made with coconut flakes. While I don’t mind a little coconut in my cake, my guys would say no way. They’d rather be in an earthquake than eat cake with coconut. Some non-coconut bakers have used chocolate chips. I decided to go one better, and add peanut butter chips, too.

Growing up in Central California as I did, I was aware of earthquakes but really didn’t experience them much. I will admit, when the World Series Quake hit, we felt it big time. Hubby was a VP for a generator company, and it was all hands on deck. San Francisco wasn’t very smart. Concerned about the environment and diesel spills, San Francisco banned diesel-powered generators and opted for natural gas generators instead. In the event of a power outage, the natural gas generators worked great. However; in the event of an earthquake, to keep the city from burning to the ground, the gas lines are shut off. No gas, no power. Following the earthquake, Hubby spend several days in San Francisco replacing natural gas generators with diesel generators to get the markets and hospitals up and running again.

Call us crazy, but we spent several weekends in San Francisco following the big quake. Hotels and restaurants that were open ran all sorts of specials to get people in. Rooms were cheap, food was cheap and the city was empty. Sure, there were some after shocks, but the “big one” had already happened, so a little rolling was no big deal.

Anyway, that’s my earthquake story. Let’s get to baking . . .

Earthquake Cake
1/2 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Peanut Butter Chips
1 1/2 cups chopped Pecans
3 large Eggs
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1 box German Chocolate Cake Mix
1 cup Water
1/2 cup Butter
8 oz. Cream Cheese
4 cups Powdered Sugar
1 cup Chocolate Syrup

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Grease and flour a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish.

Spread pecans, peanut butter and chocolate chips in the bottom of the prepared dish. Set aside.

Beat eggs and oil on medium speed until pale yellow and foamy, about 2 minutes. Add cake mix and water. Beat on low for 30 seconds, then increase to medium for 2 minutes.

Spread cake batter over top of pecans and chips.

Melt butter and cream cheese over low to medium heat in small saucepan.

Remove from heat.

Add powdered sugar and whisk to combine.

Spread powdered sugar mixture over top of cake batter in baking dish.

Smooth the top.

Bake for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Check the cake after 30 minutes. If cream cheese is browning too much, cover cake with foil during the final 15 minutes of baking.

Cool completely before cutting into squares.

To serve, place cake square on a dessert plate. Drizzle with chocolate syrup and serve.

Author: Rosemarie's Kitchen

I'm a wife, mother, grandmother and avid home cook.I believe in eating healthy whenever possible, while still managing to indulge in life's pleasures. View all posts by Rosemarie's Kitchen