My Dad is 50 and still eats like a frat boy. His food groups consist of the following: Beer, Ramen Noodles, Beer, Sausage & Cheese, Popcorn, Beer and Chips. For good measure, he will sometimes have a bowl of cereal or a sandwich — however both of those are followed up with one of his stellar food group choices.
You would think his health would be horrendous, but he somehow manages to stay fit and all his health numbers are great (he has perfect cholesterol…the man has a bowl of fried noodles for brunch every day — it blows my mind). Last year for his physical, he had a fit when the nurse told him his waist was 33 inches. He was so distraught that he made me remeasure him and prove that his waist is in fact only 32 inches. And to my horror, he was right.
My Mom does feed him real food every chance she gets. While he doesn’t eat anything like quinoa (or any healthy grain like it), he does eat normal healthy dinners when she is home from work early enough to cook. Of course dinner is always followed up with a bowl of buttery popcorn, but that’s neither here nor there.
It should come as no surprise that this Hornet’s Nest Cake is one of his all time favorite desserts. It’s a package of pudding, some milk and a box of yellow cake mix. Then you toss on some pecans and a whole bag of butterscotch chips. My Mom has been making this recipe for him since I was in middle school and he is always one of the first ones in line for a slice.
It’s one of those recipes that you would ignore, but like most of those dressed up cake mixes…I gotta admit — it’s pretty dang good. I have been blogging for quite some time now, so I think it’s time that one of my Dad’s family favorites finally made the blog. And I don’t think y’all want instructions on how to make Ramen Noodles. 🙂
Hornet's Nest Cake
Ingredients
- 1 package, 3.4 oz vanilla instant pudding
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 package, 18.25 oz plain yellow cake mix
- 1 package, 11 oz butterscotch chips
- 1 cup chopped pecans
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9 baking pan, set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together pudding mix and milk. Let sit 5 minutes until it firms up. Fold in the cake mix and stir until combined (a few lumps are ok).
- Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Scatter the butterscotch chips and pecans on top of cake batter.
- Bake cake for 35 to 40 minutes — until it springs back when lightly pressed with fingers. Remove from oven and let cake cool on wire rack for 30 minutes before serving.
- Store this cake in baking dish (covered in aluminum foil) at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
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Just made this today. It’s amazing and thank you for sharing 🙂
My butterscotch chips didn’t melt. Kept it in the oven as long as I could .
Hi Nancy, they won’t melt completely, they will keep some of their shape. You can see the chips in the cake in the photos, they aren’t completely melted.
This was the first time that I have made this for Easter…I made the cake mix and folded in the jello…was that correct or should have I just dumped the cake mix from the box into the jello? Without adding eggs, water and oil? The middle of the cake seemed to be a little gooey.
Hi Cara!
In step 2, it says: In a large bowl, whisk together pudding mix and milk. Let sit 5 minutes until it firms up. Fold in the cake mix and stir until combined (a few lumps are ok).
So you combine the dry pudding mix and the milk. Then you fold in the dry cake mix (you do not mix the cake mix according to the box).
So yes, you do not use the eggs/water/oil listed on the cake box, just the ingredients listed in the recipe.
Hope this helps! 🙂
This cake is a childhood favorite. My grandma would always make it for me on birthdays and big occasions. She never shared the recipe with me. So glad I stumbled upon this
So glad you found it then Heather! Enjoy!! 🙂
Looks delish, I have it in the oven right now. Can’t walt to try it !!
Could you use chocolate chips instead of butterscotch, my hubby is not a fan of butterscotch
Of course! Cinnamon Chips might be better in this combination though!
Oh, I am SO making this!! I love butterscotch and shortcut recipes with cake mixes so this is the perfect recipe for me!
Mandy@ South your Mouth
If you like cakes made from boxes, order yourself The Cake Doctor! Great recipes!
This is my favorite kind of recipe! The easier to make, the better! Can’t wait to try it!!!
I would love to make this for my husband and son, it is ok to switch out 2% milk for the whole milk? We only use 2%. Thank you.
Hi Gayle! Yes, 2% would be fine. 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
Could you also use coconut in this cake? Sounds like it would be good in it.
I am sure coconut would be a great addition!
WOWZA! This looks SOOOOO good.
How have I never heard of this cake?? This is SO my kinda thing. Definitely trying this!
I’ve never heard of this cake but it sounds amazing! Love how easy it is!
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to make it! Thanks for sharing!
Funny story about your dad! Must be nice to be able to eat like that and remain trim! This cake looks so delicious.
LOVE that this is made with cake mix. I am too damn lazy to wait any longer than necessary for this cake! The quicker, the better!
This recipe looks AMAZING! And, your photography is gorgoues..how do you do it??
This sounds so simple and looks heavenly 🙂 I love butterscotch!
Good for your dad! This cake sounds awesome!
Never heard of this cake. It looks good. My Dad is always “cutting back” but never declines an offer for sweets!