carrot Patch Chocolate Cake Recipe

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, water and oil. Blend with hand mixer until batter is smooth.
3. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Spray a 9x13 cake pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour the batter into the pan.
5. Bake according to package directions (usually 30-35 minutes for a 9x13 cake).
6. While cake is baking, place the white baking chips into a small saucepan and begin stirring them over Medium-Low heat on the stove (or follow the instructions on the bag).
7. When they are almost melted, add a few drops of orange gel food coloring to the mixture. Continue stirring until all candy is melted and it is all orange.
8. NOTE: I tried this before with liquid food coloring and the candy coating hardened immediately. I did not have this problem with gel coloring. If you can find orange candy melts, you can use them and skip this step.
9. Skewer the marshmallows with toothpicks and roll them around in the melted candy until they are covered. You only need to do the top and sides.
10. Allow excess chocolate to drip off and poke the toothpicks into a piece of thick styrofoam (or through the top of a shoe box like I did). You can also remove the toothpicks and place them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
11. Place in fridge until the candy is set (about 10 minutes).
12. By this point, the cake should be about done baking. Remove from oven and allow to cool while you finish the marshmallow carrots.
13. Remove the marshmallows from the fridge and use a tooth pick to poke 3 small holes very close to each other in the middle of the top of each marshmallow.
14. Using the toothpick, push 1 piece of edible Easter grass into each hole to create the carrot tops. Set aside until cake is cool enough to add the icing.
15. When cake is cool, icing it with the can of frosting (or your favorite recipe).
16. Remove the marshmallows from toothpicks and gently press them down into the frosting until you feel the cake give a little. I made 3 rows with 4 carrots in each row.
17. Sprinkle the Oreo crumbs over the chocolate frosting to create the look of dirt. Dust crumbs off of the carrot tops if any land there while sprinkling.
18. You are finished!