Chocolate Sundae Cake originally posted in 2009 and updated with fresh photos in 2019. If you enjoy Southern Plate, please help support the site by telling your friends!
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. That is where Chocolate Sundae Cake comes in!
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 years ago 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 coming tomorrow so stay tuned!
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 siblings and their families 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 or the experiences I gathered as a little girl. But they’ll have new ones. Not the same, but just as precious to them. And of course, they’ll remember the food. Maybe this chocolate sundae cake will be one of those special memories, too. 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) and whatever the package calls for to make that, a large container of whipped topping, a bottle of chocolate syrup, and some cherries (I prefer with stems) along with chopped 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!” Hey, ain’t no shame in saving money. In fact, there is a lot of wisdom there!
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.
(This story is from 2009) 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 to get it chilled.
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 container of whipped topping over it.
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!
Ingredients
- 1 box Chocolate Cake Mix, Devil's Food or Dark Chocolate preferred plus ingredients needed to prepare according to pkg directions
- 1 Bottle Hershey's Chocolate syrup (about 22 ounces) Or chocolate syrup of your choice
- 16 ounces whipped topping
- chopped nuts and cherries with stems, for garnishing
Instructions
- Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions in a 9x13 pan.
- Once done, remove cake from oven and poke holes all in top with fork while still hot. 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. Enjoy!
“He has the most who is most content with the least.”
~ Diogenes, an ancient Greek philosopher
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Yum
