I baked TWO cakes!

For most people, baking two cakes isn't news. For me, I'm sure it was the first time I'd done any baking in this century! I actually had to buy cake pans! The 9" x 13" Pyrex™ pan, acquired by my mother when I was a mere child, broke about 5 years ago and it hadn't been replaced yet.

Last February, when I was in Arizona, my hostess, Mary Lou Evans, took a chocolate cake to the guild meeting, It drew rave reviews. I flinched when she said it only had four ingredients, as I prefer limiting my recipes to three! However, I took the first opportunity to stretch my culinary efforts for one of the office parties - my hand shot up to bring the cake for Kathy's birthday party. I discovered chocolate is not her favorite cake, so I went out on a limb and decided spice cake mix and apple pie filling should work as well as chocolate mix and cherry pie filling. I looked at a few recipes on the Internet to bolster my confidence and plunged in! Both cakes tasted delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Mary Lou!



These are not "dump" cakes; they are actually stirred. Also, I read a hint for adding a Tablespoon of maple syrup to purchased frosting for the apple spice cake - an excellent tip. To make the apple spice cake, substitute the ingredients shown in [brackets].

Cherry-Chocolate [Apple Spice] Cake
1 package fudge cake mix [spice cake mix]
1 can (21 oz) cherry pie fillling [apple pie filling]
1 Tbsp almond extract [vanilla extract]
2 beaten eggs

Combine the four ingredients and stir until well mixed. Pour into a greased and floured 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting [purchased, add 1 Tbsp maple syrup, or use recipe with substitution]
1 C sugar
1/3 C milk
3 Tbsp butter
6 oz. chocolate [butterscotch] chips
Ground nuts, optional

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, butter and milk. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in chips until smooth. If using nuts, stir in now. Pour over cake while still warm.

(I actually cooked the frosting and put it on warm as recommended, too!)