Chocolate Earthquake Cake

How did I not know that this cake existed? I can't believe I've never heard of it. Have you? I was looking for dessert ideas yesterday and entered "chocolate cake" and "cream cheese" into my ingredient search on allrecipes.com. Three versions of this cake popped up, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm so glad I did. It was gooey and rich and really delicious.

Chocolate Earthquake Cake

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 (3.5 ounce) package flaked coconut

1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix

1/2 cup butter

8 ounces cream cheese

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 9x12 inch cake pan. Cover the bottom of the cake pan with the chopped nuts and the flaked coconut.
2. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter over chopped nuts and coconut.
3. Melt butter or margarine, add cream cheese and confectioner's sugar. Stir until blended. Spoon over unbaked batter.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 42 minutes. Please note: you cannot test for doneness, as the cake will appear sticky even when it is done. The icing sinks into the batter as it bakes, forming the white ribbon inside. Makes 16 servings.

Some notes: I left out the walnuts (Mabel is allergic) and I was out of coconut, which was a bummer because I love coconut. I used a Devil's Food mix instead of German Chocolate, and I only had 4 ounces of cream cheese. Despite all of that, it turned out pretty well. It was best warm from the oven, as the icing hardened a bit after it cooled and stuck to the bottom of the pan. Oh, and mine overflowed in the oven, although it did settle back down nicely once it was out.

I'll have you know, I exercised extreme restraint and threw the leftovers away before I went to bed last night. Otherwise it would have been breakfast, and that would not have been a good idea.