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Recipe Summary:

When my niece, Shelley, turned 11, (since we share a love of sweet things), I decided to bake her a layer cake and include all of the flavors we love. With a multitude of fillings, frostings and candies, the cake inspired passionate debates among the children at her party. They argued about which parts of the cake tasted good and which bad, which flavors worked together and which did not, which colors matched and which clashed, and, most importantly, how each error should be corrected using different ingredients.

After hearing their complaints I challenged them to make a better cake. As a group, they voted on the best ingredients and the best order of arrangement. We listed the foods and tools we needed and marched to the store to buy our supplies. Back in the kitchen, we separated into five teams: one to bake the cake layers and four others to make the fillings.

We worked in our separate groups all afternoon until it came time to assemble the cake. Each team directed the assembly of their section. The cake bakers laid out the first bare layer and the first filling team spread their filling. The cake bakers added the second bare layer and the second filling team spread their filling and so on. I spread the final layer of frosting, and since Shelley was the birthday girl she helped me to add the final candy garnishes. By the time we finished everyone was ready for a second round of birthday cake, and the reaction was unanimous: it was a hit!

The recipe that resulted that day follows. I call it Shelley's Five-Layer Birthday Cake. I hope that other groups (regardless of age or setting) will enjoy the act of formulating, mixing, assembling and eating this wonderful treat as much as we did. They too will come to understand that the real treat lies in the process of creating something special together.

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes Betty Crocker Moist Deluxe^TM Devil's Food Cake mix
• 2 2/3 cups water
• 1 c. vegetable oil
• 6 eggs

• 1 package Jell-O No Bake^TM Peanut Butter Cup Dessert mix
• 1 pckg. Jell-O No Bake^TM Chocolate Dessert mix
• 1 bag caramel cream candies
• 1 tube almond paste
• 1 1/3 c. skim milk
• 1 c. water
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/3 c. skim milk

• 2 containers Betty Crocker Soft Whipped^TM Fluffy White frosting
• 6 to 8 maraschino cherries without stems
• 6 to 8 Hershey's Kisses^TM
• 10 to 12 red peanut M&Ms^TM
• 1 small tub of red cake writing gel

Directions:

• Blend Filling packet and Peanut Butter packet from package with 1 1/3 c. skim milk for three full minutes on high speed. Cover and refrigerate one hour.

• Blend Topping packet with 1 c. water for three minutes on high speed. Cover and refrigerate one hour. (For both Jell-O No Bake^TM fillings, follow Filling and Topping directions on Peanut Butter Cup and Chocolate Dessert packages, respectively).

• In a food processor, puree almond paste with 1/3 c. skim milk until soft and spreadable. Cover and remove to refrigerator.

• In a small saucepan, combine caramel candies with 1/4 c. water. Simmer on low heat stirring constantly until the consistency is smooth. Cover and refrigerate.

• Following the directions on the box, beat cake mix from first package with 1 1/3 c. water, 1/2 c. vegetable oil and 3 eggs.
• Spread batter evenly among 3 well greased round cake pans.
• Bake in 350 ° oven for 20 min. Cool for 5 minutes in pans then remove to cooling racks.
• Repeat for second cake mix package.

• Using a long, sharp, serrated knife, slice the rounded tops off the 6 fully cooled cakes to make flat.
• Invert Layer 1 on cake serving dish so that sliced side faces down and cooked bottom faces up. (Repeat this for remaining layers so that the tougher cooked bottom is always frosted rather than the more delicate sliced side.)
• Spread Peanut Butter Cup filling in a ½ inch thick layer from the center to the edges of the top of the cake. (Do not frost sides.)
• Place Layer 2 on Peanut Butter Cup filling, inverting as above.
• Spread Chocolate Dessert filling as above.
• Add Layer 3.
• Spread Almond Paste mixture.
• Add Layer 4 and place cake in refrigerator.
• Heat caramel mixture on low heat until spreadable but still stiff.
• QUICKLY spread caramel on Layer 4, add Layer 5 and place cake in freezer for one hour to prevent caramel from oozing onto sides.

• Now that the layers and fillings have stiffened, generously spread the packaged frosting around the sides and on the top of the cake with a spatula.
• Alternate Hershey's Kisses^TM, cherries and M&Ms^TM around the perimeter of the cake
• Write a birthday message with the red cake writing gel
• Serve and enjoy!

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