Liven up this cake?!
Answers: 2 round pans. Dark chocolate cake mix already prepared sitting in mixing bowl. Have a tin of coconut pecan frosting. Also a tin of Ghirardelli baking cocoa, cream cheese, powdered sugar, quality jams, pecans, extracts. Not going to the store. Any ideas?
add the baking cocoa to the cake mix in another bowl mix cream cheese, vanilla extract if you have it, if not add the cocoa to the cream cheese with sugar. Pour the dark cake mix in pan and swirl cheese cream mix in with the cake. Swirl don't mix. bake and cool then add the icing and pecans. You can also put the pecans in the cake too. You have everything you need just bake. Email me a slice please. :)
Order a pizza.
I would do a blend of cream cheese and jam for the middle of layers, then either make home made icing with rest of cream cheese and powdered sugar, or dust top with powdered sugar, or put more jam on top, and then dust with powdered sugar.
Add 1/2 cup jam and chopped pecans to the batter. Butter and shake powdered sugar in the cake pans BEFORE putting in batter. When baked, cool, frost in layers: Round platter, cake sliced in half hortizonally with sharp knife or unflavored floss, place layer on platter frost and repeat with other layers - top with the rest of the coconut pecan frosting. Make a fancy design - 3 pecans/mint sprig or orange slice twisted in center. Good luck.
Mix the icing with the cream cheese and sprinkle nuts on the top of it or cherries etc.
If you have a banana, it keeps chocolate cake very moist and delicious.