Earthquake cakes will never win any beauty contests. The ugly stepchild of cakes they may be, but that does not detract from them tasting absolutely amazing, which when all is said and done is what it’s all about. The cake gets its name from that way that all of the various ingredients shift around, during and after baking.
The Pecan Nuts and Coconut rise towards the top of the mixture, whilst the Cream Cheese sinks towards the bottom of the cake. This means that no two bites ever taste the same but makes for a wonderful consistency. Easy to prepare and full of delicious ingredients you can be certain that this cake will do down like a Volcano.
Ingredients & Instructions:
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 box German chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1 1/3 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 oz softened cream cheese
½ cup (4 oz) butter
2 cups powdered sugar (also known as confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 9×13 baking pan with non-stick spray.
2. Sprinkle the coconut in an even layer in the pan followed by the pecans. 3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the cake mix with the eggs, water and vegetable oil.
4. Pour the cake batter over pecans & coconut.
5. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and cream cheese together, then transfer to a 4 cup measuring cup and whisk or beat in the powdered sugar with a hand mixer until smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
6. Pour the cream cheese mixture in ribbons on top of the cake batter, then swirl with a knife.
7. Top with the chocolate chips.
8. Bake 45-55 minutes.
*Tip: the toothpick test won’t work for this cake because of the gooey chocolate and cream cheese; the cake is done when you can gently shake the pan and the center of the cake no longer jiggles.