Recipe: Chocolate Dump Cake

Nancy Hawkins from Oliver Springs, Tenn., was looking for the recipe for a cake that a woman she worked with brought into her office for a birthday celebration. It was chocolate cake that was just dumped out of the pan and had "oodles and oodles of scrumptious melted chocolate inside."

Hawkins said the woman who made the cake called it an "Aussie dump cake," but she would never share her recipe. While I did not receive any responses from readers about this cake, I knew that a "dump cake" was not that uncommon. A search of the Internet turned up dozens of recipes for dump cakes, cakes commonly made with a cake-mix base, usually in one bowl or pan, that after baking are simply dumped out for serving.

A recipe on allrecipes.com for a chocolate dump cake sounded very close to what Hawkins had described. It is so easy to make, a child could do it, and the result is one super-rich and decadent chocolate mess.

Chocolate Dump Cake

Makes 24 servings

1 package (5-ounce) non-instant chocolate pudding mix

2 1/3 cups milk

1 package (18.25-ounce) chocolate cake mix

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease one 9-by-13-inch baking pan

2. Combine chocolate pudding and milk in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until thick, stirring frequently.

3. Remove pan from heat and add in dry cake mix. Mix together and pour into a prepared baking pan. Evenly spread the chocolate chips over the top of the cake.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Let cake cool and serve.

Nutrition information:

Per serving: 193 calories, 8 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 31 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams protein, 2 grams fiber, 2 milligrams cholesterol, 210 milligrams sodium