Cheesecake-Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cake (From Al)

By Jenny_439

Ingredients

• Unsweetened Cocoa
• 1 (18.25 oz) package devil’s food cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
• 1 (3.4 oz) package chocolate instant pudding mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 3 (1.55 oz) milk chocolate bars, chopped (I used Hershey’s)
• 3 (16 oz) cans homestyle cream cheese frosting (I used Betty Crocker)
• 3 (7.75 oz) boxes frozen cheesecake bites, coarsely chopped (I couldn’t find these so I used 2 Sara Lee Original Cheesecakes and chopped them up)
• 1 (12 oz) jar caramel topping (I used Smuckers)

Preparation

Step 1

Grease 2 (9”) round cakepans, and dust with cocoa.
Beat cake mix and next 5 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute; then beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Fold in chopped milk chocolate bars. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake at 350° for 32 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool cake in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Wrap and chill cake layers at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. (This step allows you to split cake layers with ease. I wrapped them in saran wrap, then aluminum foil – froze them for about 24 hours – moved them from the freezer to the fridge for 3 hours before cutting them)
Using a serrated knife, slice cake layers in half horizontally to make 4 layers. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on a cake plate. Spread with ½ cup cream cheese frosting; sprinkle with one-fourth of chopped cheesecake bites. Repeat procedure with remaining 3 layers, frosting, and cheesecake bites, omitting cheesecake bites on top of last layer. Frost sides and top of cake with remaining frosting. (I frosted a thin layer all over the cake and chilled it in the fridge for 20 minutes - this keeps crumbs from getting in your final layer of frosting )
Drizzle desired amount of caramel sauce over cake, letting it drip down the sides. Chill until ready to serve. I decorated the cake with my remaining cheesecake bites but the recipe also suggests rolled wafer cookies. Store in the fridge until you’re ready to serve (it held up pretty well for about 2 hours after I took it out of the fridge – then everything started getting pretty gooey – luckily by that time most of it had been eaten! )