Pumpkin Caramel Poke Cake

So, are you familiar with  The Country Cook? Oh. My. Goodness. If you're not, do yourself a favor and check her out. She has such a sweet personality and I love her recipes. And more than likely you have pinned one of her recipes and not even known it. My favorites are her "poke cakes." Hence...my title and what I whipped up.

As I have always said...I get my ideas for recipes from lots of different people and sites...but most I make up are completely on a whim and all mine. Obviously, I didn't originate whoopie pies or mudslides...but many of the flavor combinations are all my own and that's the case w/this cake. When I first stumbled upon a caramel cake mix and a pumpkin pudding, the idea was pretty immediate. It is rather tasty and I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

1 box caramel cake mix

ingredients used to make cake(eggs, oil & water)

2 boxes pumpkin pudding mix(if you can't find, check my notes & I'll have alternate)

2 cups caramel coffee creamer

2 cups milk

1 container whipped topping(the cinnamon one was perfect for this) or 1 cup whipping cream

1 package heath bar bits

Prepare cake according to directions for a 9x13 cake, allow it to cool for a few minutes. Then, w/a handle of a wooden spoon or something similar  poke holes in the cake. They should be big, so the pudding can "poke" down in there...but really there is no rhyme or reason to this.

In a separate bowl, whisk together pudding using the coffee creamer & milk, then pour directly over the cake into the holes, reserving a 1/2 cup into the fridge to set up. Once you have poured into holes, making sure to "seep"  down into the holes, use the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly and place in fridge to set up, at least 2 hours.

To make "icing" use remainder of pudding and mix w/a container of whip cream. Sprinkle some heath bar bits over the cake and top with the "whipped icing"

Set back in fridge till ready to eat.

***notes.

if you want to use all milk, feel free. I just am a big fan of using flavored coffee creamers to completely change up the flavoring of something. I rarely make pudding w/out one. If you can't find the pumpkin pudding, you could always use cheesecake/or vanilla pudding and use pumpkin spice coffee creamer to make it instead. and the second time I used this...I just got an extra packet of pudding and mixed the dry packet it/w a cup of whipping cream to make my "icing" really easy and so tasty!                                      

Now...if only I could get mine to be as pretty as hers! Or I can just be content in what my inadequacies are;) haha and yes...my recipe varies a little from hers. It's b/c I did hers from memory and I was a little off...but mine came out great too. or so I decided.

Funny story...the whole time I was typing this as I was reading to myself, pudding sounds like "puddin" I am a word nerd. I love words, ones that are interchangeable  I get made fun of so much for this...So when my accent creeps in, no matter how hard I try, I can't squash it. 

The reason I am so amused is b/c just this weekend a friend of mine from TX and I were talking. She said something to the effect that when she pictures "my South" it's "debutante balls and big dresses" and "her South" is "daisy dukes and cowboy boots" I howled and laughed till I almost cried...

Yes, I love MK and Kate Spade, my Frye boots, and Paige denim. I love fancy restaurants and good wine. I adore fruity martinis and I have worn high heels to grocery shop on more than one occasion...but

~I grew up on a tobacco farm in the middle of nowhere

~if the boondocks had a backwoods, Gladys, VA would be it!

~I learned to drive in a 25 year old jeep and a tractor

~my nearest neighbor was almost 3 miles away

~the only store we had was "Burls Market" 

~I am pretty sure the "penny candy" was original to it's 1943 store opening

~I am fully aware that camo serves a purpose & it isn't a fashion one

~I love cowboy boots

~I prefer bourbon/whiskey to wine and I like it hot...and straight out the bottle;)

~Wide open spaces rock my world

~I realize that everything just tastes better in a mason jar

~I know the difference between a ruger and a remington

Just funny how in life...even our friends can have a completely different picture of us than we do of ourselves!

linking up today with Jessica & Ashley