Devilishly Good Chocolate Cake

Pudding mix in the batter makes this deep, dark delight even more rich.

Ingredients

• 1 (15.25 oz.) pkg. devil’s food cake mix
• 1 (3.9 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
• 3 eggs
• ⅓ cup oil
• 1 tsp. grated orange zest
• 1½ cups butter, at room temp.
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 Tbs. orange juice
• Orange concentrated food coloring
• Orange edible sugar pearls sprinkles
• Plastic bats (for decoration only)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Coat 2 (8”) round cake pans with cooking spray. On low speed, beat cake mix, 1 cup water, pudding mix, eggs and oil until blended, 30 sec.; on medium, beat 2 min. Stir in zest. Evenly divide between pans. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 25-30 min. Cool 10 min. transfer from pans to racks; cool completely.
2. On medium, beat butter until fluffy, 2 min. On low, gradually beat in sugar, then orange juice until combined. On medium-high, beat until fluffy, 2 min; tint orange with food coloring.
3. Place 1 cake layer on serving plate; spread top with 1 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread cake top and side with remaining frosting. Garnish with sugar pearls and plastic bats.