Chocolate Caramel Heaven

Coltan is being confirmed tomorrow. My mom is visiting and that means she brought food. We can rarely buy good fruit here so I asked her to bring 2 qts. of strawberries to make strawberry tarts. True to form, she brings 6 qts. I'm now up to my eyeballs in strawberries. But, that isn't why I felt the need to share with you today. Mom also brought what I'm calling Chocolate Caramel Heaven - chocolaty, gooey decadence. One bite and I knew I had to share the recipe. The recipe actually came via DeeDee Page and the Feast of Celebration/First Lutheran Church Cookbook, Newell, SD. I have friends that firmly believe the best recipes are found in church cookbooks. Enjoy!

Chocolate Caramel Heaven

• 1 pkg. German Chocolate cake mix
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/3 c. evaporated milk
• 1 pkg. caramel chips
• 1/3 c. evaporated milk
• 1/2 c. chopped pecans (skip if you are anti-nut like me)
• 1 pkg. of chocolate chips
• 1 pkg. of peanut butter chips

Mix cake mix, butter, 1/3 c. of evaporated milk. Put 1/2 of the mixture in a 9x13" pan. Bake 6 minutes at 315 degrees (yes, 315).  Melt caramel chips and  1/3 c. of evaporated milk in microwave (approximately 3 minutes, stir every 60 seconds). Stir until smooth and add  1/2 c. of pecans. Pour caramel mixture over baked mixture and sprinkle 1 pkg. of chocolate chips and 1 pkg, of peanut butter chips over caramel. Cover with remaining cake mixture (since cake mixture is quite thick, just place dabs of dough over mixture). Set oven at 325 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes. During baking time you can smooth out the top dough with knife so it covers the caramel and the chips.