Chocolate Sundae Cake: Sinfully Good, Sinfully Easy
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In the south, our menu selection changes entirely with the season, and each new season is something to be excited about. Right now, we’re all celebrating sunshine and heat, gardens and the outdoors. When the temperature reaches as high as it does here, that means cold food is a welcome delight.
This cake is definitely celebration worthy on all counts. The appearance makes you think of red balloons and barbecues but beyond that, the ease of it is stunning. I dreamed this up a few weeks back when I had company coming and wanted an impressive dessert with ingredients I had on hand. I was hoping they’d like it and the speed with which it disappeared confirmed that they did. Just to be sure though, I made another one. POOF! And another…POOF!
Alright, now I’m ready to bring it to you – with a POOF! Guarantee.
One of my reader’s asked me on facebook if I had any suggestions for dishes to bring to family reunions and this one is going to go to the top of my list! The complete list of my personal favorite Southern Plate family reunion dishes is at the bottom of this post.
I LOVE family reunions but it looks like we’re done with them for the time being in my family. Folks scatter to the wind and family expand, people get older and in a bad way, leaving just a few of us stragglers with the enthusiasm to herd the crowd back to the farm one bright sunny day. We still gather at my mother’s house a few times a year though and while this is just my brother and his family along with my sister and nephew, it’s still a big enough gathering to count as a reunion to the younger generation.
They won’t remember Papa Reed giving us rides on the tractor as he let kids take turns getting to sit over the wheel. They won’t remember fifty people piling up on the flatbed trailer for a ride to the creek where we’d try to find the biggest rock to make the biggest splash and they won’t ever sit in the front yard of the farm and listen to people playing banjos and fiddles on the porch.
They won’t ever have the memories in my head, the experiences I gathered as a little girl with a sunburn stripe going down the middle of my two blonde ponytails. But they’ll have new ones. Not the same, but just as precious to them. And of course, they’ll remember the food as well.
Scroll down to the bottom of this post for a list of my favorite things to bring to family get togethers.
You’ll need: Chocolate Cake mix (regular, dark, devil’s food, etc), a large container of whipped topping, a bottle of chocolate syrup, and some cherries (I prefer with stems) and nuts for the topping.
Of course I’m using the cheap stuff!
~smiles her perky housewife of the 1950′s era smile and looks into the camera with pride~
“Nothing but the cheapest for me and my family!”
Prepare your cake according to package directions in a 9×13 inch pan.
As soon as you take it out of the oven, poke holes all in the top with a fork.
Until it looks like it has been attacked by a mob of angry chickens.
I love that quote “Raising children is like being pecked to death by chickens!”.
~giggles~
I laugh now but some days, the truth in that jes’ ain’t no laughing matter!
This is one of our precious “golden forks”. I say they are precious because my children treat them like they are crown jewels. I was in Old Time Pottery a few weeks ago with both kids, perusing the kitchenware, when we came upon a bin of these forks. They were only fifty cents each and both kids had spotted them from a distance. They stood over them, oohing and ahhing as if they had discovered Captain Blackbeard’s treasure! So I picked up one for each kid and started to put them in the buggy. Oh no!! They wanted to carry them, apparently not trusting their precious fifty cents forks to be out of their sight.
While standing there, I somehow got into a conversation with a very nice lady about recipes and she and I ended up talking for about ten minutes or so (I often get into conversations about food with strangers so this shouldn’t seem odd in the least). My kids were talking quietly among themselves (WOW) and I was grateful for their great behavior while Mama chatted.
When we got to the front of the store, however, I realized that the whole time, my kids (mostly Katy) had been going through that bin getting out more gold forks! We now have ten golden forks and whenever company comes over to eat Katy says “OOH! WAIT!! I’ll go get you a GOLDEN fork!!!”
Now take that bottle of chocolate syrup and pour it over the cake.
Yes, the entire bottle. Saturate that cake. It will soak into the holes and warm cake and…oh my if your mouth isn’t watering now I don’t know what it takes to do it for ya!
Let your cake cool completely and place in the fridge.
Sometimes I speed things up a bit by placing my hot cake in the freezer but lets keep that between us, alrighty?
Once your cake is cold, spread the entire shebang of whipped topping over it.
I spread it all over but didn’t take a picture when I was done, I just have this here action shot so you’ll have to use your imagination.
Top with chopped nuts and a cherry and serve cold!
Check out that cross section!
This is so easy, you don’t have any excuse not to make it!
Chocolate Sundae Cake
- Box chocolate cake mix (Dark Chocolate, Chocolate, Devil’s Food, etc.),prepared according to package directions
- Large container whipped topping (16 oz)
- Bottle Chocolate Syrup
- Cherries and chopped nuts for garnishing
Prepare cake mix according to package directions in a 9×13 pan. While still hot, poke holes all in top with fork. Pour entire bottle of chocolate syrup over cake. Allow to cool completely. Spread whipped topping over entire cake. Refrigerate for several hours. Garnish each slice with chopped nuts and a cherry.
Print This Recipe
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A Few Family Reunion Suggestions
These are my absolute favorite things to eat/bring to family reunions and summer get togethers. There aren’t many main dishes listed because we usually try to have a few hams and some chicken there and then folks bring sides and desserts as their contribution. There are literally hundreds of dishes on Southern Plate that would be great to bring in addition to these. To browse the index of all recipe tutorials, click here.
Main Dishes
Country Casserole (Can leave out chicken and make a side dish)
Crock Pot Chicken And Dressing (Old Southern favorite, just make it and take your crock pot with you!)
Side Dishes
Deviled Eggs (Must have!)
Desserts
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Some Legal Stuff
Southern Plate is almost a year old and I can’t believe how much we’ve grown! Currently, my food columns may be seen in the following publications:
- The Food Mag (issue out soon)
- Southern Beauty Magazine (Issue out soon)
- Athens News Courier (front page of life on Wednesdays)
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- Darla Shine’s Happy Housewive’s Club
- AL.com
- Just For Women Magazine,Ezine, and Website
If you see Southern Plate content in another print or online publication, please let me know so I can ensure that the content is authorized. Unfortunately, this has become an issue as of late. ~sighs~
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Thank you very much!
“He has the most who is most content with the least.”
~ Diogenes, an ancient Greek philosopher (This is so true)
Submitted by Bill Gent. To submit your quote, click here.
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Jun 22 2009. Filed under Cake.
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[...] This is one of Katy Rose’s “golden forks” ~giggle~ Story about those is here… [...]
Well I made this tonight and it was a hit! Just thought I’d share tho:
My stepdad when I asked (I was at store and we had cake mix but wasn’t sure if chocolate) if we had chocolate cake amongst the baking stuff, he thought we did-turns out it was 2 boxes of brownies and 2 boxes of dark chocolate mint cake. The latter wasn’t an option as us “kids” don’t like dark chocolate. So I decided to try it with a box of brownies following the cake recipe… And it was definitely a winner…
Not sure if theres much of a difference in cakes v. cake like brownies, but thought I’d share this winner.
Also thinking that with the holidays coming, will have to try this without the nuts and put peppermint/candy cane crumbs on top…. A new twist to “peppermint bark”
Is there a print button to print off this recipe? Am I missing something?
I love how you use “light” whipped topping. I am sure that erases the other calories!
Dang skippy it does!
~giggles~
Loved that story! You can tell Katy I agree with her 100%…I’m 49 and I’m still impressed with gold eating utensils (sounds kind of weird saying gold silverware) and I don’t have any, but if I saw em’ for 50 cents, I’d get me a few, just for company. Golden forks are something fancy and I’m sure they must make the food taste way better! Plus I thought of Charlie and his Golden Ticket! That movie never ceases to be fun!
thanks for sharing and I agree with you about family reunions. They are not the same. We were looking through our old albums of all the loved ones that have gone home and it warms my heart to remember the way it use to be. Now I am here with my kids and they are happy as clams. I just wonder what things we do that will make them smile when they are grown and with there kids.
First…love the golden forks! That is one of the sweetest stories…gathering up the golden forks and now they are a treasured part of their childhood. Precious…
The cake…HOLY COW! I was looking for something yummy and summery and stunning to take TODAY to a picnic…and now I have it. I just hope I don’t eat ALL of it before I get there.
Hi Christy…
I know this is late notice, but I am making this cake tomorrow for supper and I have a question. I wondered how early I can make this ahead? Would you recommend making this the night before (tonight)….or should I wait until tomorrow (the day of) to make it? Thanks for any help! Cindi
I’d make it tonight but it’ll be fine if you do it tomorrow!
Thanks!
[...] Chocolate Sundae Cake [...]
Thank you for this recipe Christy. Now I know what I I’ll make for my husbands birthday cake next week, he will absolutely love it……not to mention me! You have such great recipes.
[...] – I have made butterfinger cake, chocolate sundae cake, chocolate cobbler, terriyaki cashew chicken, grilled chicken tenderloins (loved and didn’t [...]
[...] There Flat Christy pointed out that Katy must have royal taste because we saw the same golden forks that we’d seen on SP!! [...]
[...] Chocolate Sundae Cake [...]
LOVE-LOVE-LOVE this cake. After I read your post a while back about using pretzels in place of nuts, I have been making this cake using pretzel topping in place of the nuts. I have substituted fresh strawberries for the cherries some times. One time I even used canned peach slices in place of the cherries, it was still pretty and yummy!
I am so excited that I found Southern Plate on line and for people like you that make a differents. I enjoy reading your lilltle stories and the cute things you say in them. I love to copy all your recipes and prepare them. I also like the way you explain how to fix them.Keep up the good work. Thank you
Hi Christy- I made this cake a couple of weeks ago and it was incredible! Question – I was thinking of making it the same way, but also adding bananas, strawberries an pineapple under the whipped topping. Sort of a banana split cake. Have you heard of anyone else modifying the recipe this way? Looking for pointers. Thanks!
Poke Cake – I love poke cakes – I made a Banana Pudding cake just like this with yellow cake mix – 2 pkg. (3oz) of banana pudding – whipped topping and crumbled vanilla cookies on top. Also good.
ooooo I’d like more details on this cake, please other Judy. : ) Did you just mix the dry pudding right from the box into the cake batter or did you make the pudding and pour it on? This and Christy’s cake both sound so good!
yummmy!!
Sadly our reunions have died out also, families just don’t have the time and some of the younger generation don’t have the desire to stay connected to relatives they barely know. This cake looks delicious
yummy:)
I can’t seem to find the “Save to recipe box” on this one (sigh)
I wanted to ask about the size of the chocolate syrup because I have a huge one from Costco.
Can’t wait to try this recipe. Looks so Yummy!!
Christy, I have made 3 of these cakes this summer! This is the best recipe, and it’s so simple. I made one today for my youngest daughter to have before she leaves for college at the end of the week. She usually gets a piece of the cake right after I put the chocolate syrup on it, and it is still hot. It is her favorite. I use a crushed heath bar instead of the nuts, and it is really good with the candy on it. I also want to try the Butterfinger cake recipe, too. Thanks for sharing!
I am so glad to hear that you are enjoying the recipe!! I hope your daughter has a safe trip going back to college and has a wonderful year!!
I want to put this in my recipe box but there is no link to do so. Help! It looks great.
Christy, I make this same cake, but instead of using chocolate syrup, I use fudge ice cream topping and 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and top with cool whip and chopped M&M’s. Sooooooooooooooooo GOOD. I love your site.
This looks so Delicious !
The great part is it wont cost a fortune to make,
My husband is a diabetic and I can get the cake mix, whipped topping , and chocolate syrup all in sugar free.
I cant wait to surprise my family with this !
Thank you and God Bless !