Upside Down Pudding Cake

Here is one of my very favourite guilty pleasure desserts! The original recipe was called "Warm Winter Lemon Cake" from Kraft Foods. It called for a double cake mix and 2 pudding mixes, but also said that the cake needed to be baked on a cookie sheet as it goes over the sides during baking. Well, to me that is a waste so to avoid that, I divided the recipe in half and played with the original ingredients to come up with a number of varieties. I use a 2 litre/quart Corningware baking dish and rarely loose more than a Tablespoon of sauce using the single mix version, but I still put the pan under the cake to catch drips. The original recipe also called for sugar in the sauce and to sprinkle on top, but it is NOT needed and plenty sweet enough without it, so I just eliminated it. Obviously the chocolate is my favourite, but the lemon and fruit based versions, that I've listed below, follow close behind. So use your imagination and try almost any variation of cake and pudding flavours that you enjoy!

Upside Down Pudding Cake

1 pkg. (single layer size) cake mix*
1 cup 1% cold milk
2/3 cup water
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Instant Pudding Mix (regular not sugar free or light)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare cake batter as directed on package. Pour into greased 2 quart/litre (deep) baking dish; set aside.

Pour milk and water** into large bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Carefully, pour evenly over cake batter - DO NOT DTIR! Place baking dish on baking sheet to catch any sauce that bubbles over sides of dish as dessert bakes.

Bake 45- 50 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool 20 min. (Sauce will thicken slightly as it cools.) Spoon into serving dishes to serve warm. Leftovers can be covered and stored in refrigerator.

*Note: If you can't find single layer mixes in the flavour you want, you can buy a double layer mix and measure it in half. I've had to do that quite often with the lemon variety as they are harder to find in single size. Weights vary by box, so I just take a half cup measure and alternately measure into two dishes. I measure the last bit with a spoon and then put the contents of one bowl in a zippered bag and label as 1/2 cake mix for the next time I want to make this dessert! I actually made the lemon one on the weekend. The box was 520 grams/18.3ounces. I could have weighed the mix with my kitchen scale and saved 260 grams/9.15 ounces, but I measured it out. I got two portions of 1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons of mix. The double mix called for three eggs - I used 2, but one would be more than enough and less likely to boil over in the oven.

Variations:
- Chocolate cake mix and chocolate pudding mix
- Lemon cake mix and lemon pudding mix
- Vanilla cake with vanilla pudding mix,
** With the vanilla combo, instead of using water in the cake mix and with the sauce mix, substitute a fruit juice such as mango, pineapple, orange or a Five Alive type juice. I have also used canned mango pulp (available in foreign food section of major grocers). I diluted it 2 parts pulp to 1 part water.
- Vanilla cake mix with almost any flavour pudding mix

I serve this warm, with a scoop of home made ice cream or a spoonful of whipped topping . This is also good cold, but you can warm individual portions in the microwave. Put the cake part in the bottom of a bowl and cover with a spoonful or two of sauce then heat on medium power for about 30 seconds or so. I've even been known to put a few chocolate chips on top of the cake before adding the sauce for warming. Don't add chips or nuts to the actual baking as they don't stay with the cake as it bakes. They kind of get mushy in the sauce.

I submitted my comments on the original recipe to the Kraft website and you will find them in the comments section for the original recipe, but here is what I wrote
:"This is a FABULOUS and YUMMY dessert! I also use single pouch cake mix and pudding and half the liquids and bake in a 2 litre corning ware casserole dish so it doesn't boil over. I've made several versions including the lemon and the chocolate. Tonight, I tried something new. I used vanilla cake and pudding mixes. Instead of using water I used mango pulp (Comes in large cans) that I diluted; 2 parts pulp/1 part water. Served warm with homemade ice cream - WOW - talk about flavour!"
Submitted on 2/3/2008 by dnsyl57

ENJOY!

dn