Gone Fishin' with Dad

I made this cake for my cousin Derrick's son, Derrick Jr. (aka Lil' D)- he wanted a fishing cake- so here it is. It had a Chocolate Mousse filling and a Chocolate Buttercream Frosting with Fondant lake, rice krispie boat, and fondant people :)

 

I am naming the actual cake recipe in honor of my grandmother- Catalina Rathbone. She always had recipes she liked to "doctor up" so here is my attempt at achieving such a feat! Tonight I went on the hunt for the ultimate chocolate cake recipe- well, the ultimate "doctored up" cake recipe... and on the Internet, I found nothing that really stood out. Sooooo I modified a couple of recipes I use regularly and made up my own chocolate cake recipe! I am so excited- it actually held together AND my test cake tastes delish! So here it is- fresh from my oven! I hope you enjoy! Please let me know if you make it, and what you thought. Also- please note, this recipe is easily halved.

Dry Ingredients:
1 box White cake mix
1 box Chocolate cake mix
1.5 C Granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1.5 C Flour (all-purpose is fine, or you can use cake flour)
3/4 C Cocoa powder

Wet Ingredients:
2 8oz packages Cream Cheese or sour cream (I use whipped cream cheese for easier blending)
6 eggs
1/2 C Prune Puree or Applesauce (OR 2/3 cup of vegetable or canola oil)
1 Tbsp Butter Flavoring or 2 tsp Almond Extract
3 C Water

Optional:
1C Chocolate Chips (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1) Blend the wet ingredients together (except half of the water)- first cream together the cream cheese / sour cream and eggs. Once mixed, add in the Prune Puree/Applesauce/Oil and Butter Flavoring. Blend in 1/2 of the water.
2) Add in the boxed cake mixes and mix slowly until blended.
3) Mix the Cocoa Powder, Sugar and Flour slowly until well blended.
4) Blend in the Baking Powder and additional water until thoroughly mixed.
5) If the batter seems too thick, add in an additional 1/2 C of water.
6) Pour batter into a greased pan (I typically use Wilton Cake Release or make my own cake release. In a pinch I use butter flavored Crisco shortening).
7) Sprinkle the chocolate chips (I prefer to use mini-chocolate chips chips)- sprinkling on top help keeps the chocolate from sticking to the bottom of your pan while cooking- which helps with easy removal of the cake from the pan. 
8) Bake in a 350F preheated oven. Baking times will vary depending on pan size. 

This will make a 16" round 2" deep cake and a small 6" x 2" round or two 8" x 2" cakes.  
a 16" round will take approximately 45minutes - 1 hour to bake depending on oven consistency.  Make sure a toothpick can be inserted and removed without having residual batter on the toothpick.