Some of you may have seen this picture I posted on Facebook last week:

Who knew it would cause such a fuss!  You guys flipped over it!

A friend sent me this picture (I did not make this or take the photo), and I thought it was too crazy not to be shared.  Amazing the strong reactions on both sides that this over-the-top dessert stirred up!  This, my friends, is PIECAKEN.  The sugary version of turducken.  Pie baked into a cake.  Amazing to some.  Horrifying to others.  But regardless of your position of it, piecaken did create quite the stir.

I received 7 emails from people wanting me to make this for them.  One request in particular really got my attention.  It was from a soldier in Afghanistan asking if I could make one and send it to him and his troop because the food they eat there is far from  yummy.  After much research, I learned that this would not make the trip.  But how do I ignore such a request from the soldiers who were dedicating their lives to protecting my freedom to make such a dessert?  And on Memorial Day, nonetheless.  So what’s a baker to do?

Make them in cookie form, of course!  Along with more pie and cake!

Can you see it?

And because my friend Melissa at The Baked Equation is so awesome, she jumped in and baked with me.  She made the most AWESOME Mexican Chocolate Cookies (with cayenne pepper in them!), as well as chocolate chip, butterscotch and margarita lime!  (I know, right?!)

Here they are, all packed up and ready for their trip around the world.  (And we ended up with so many it took 2 boxes to get them there!  Thanks again, Melissa!)

So while I was bummed that I couldn’t ship them an actual piecaken, I hope Jerry and the 66 soldiers in his troop enjoy a more shippable version.

Oh, and I will so be making my own version of the real thing.  But my girls have decided I need to use a chocolate pie, and maybe an oreo cookie pie instead.  No fruit in our sugar coma fest!

Want to make one, too?  Here is the recipe (posted by For The Love Of Food).  I didn’t create it.  I’m not exactly certain who did.  If you know for certain, post a comment so I can give proper credit, because this genius deserves the recognition due!

This is the “quick” version.  You can make any or all of this from scratch.

PIECAKEN

• Two 9″ round cake pans that are 3 inches deep
• 2 cake box mixes and the ingredients the box calls for (your choice of flavors)
• 2 pre-cooked 6-inch pies (your choice of flavors)
• Buttercream icing (double batch or 2 tubs of store bought)

Take one box cake and make the batter according to instructions.  Pour half the batter in a 9” round cake pan. On top of that, put the first pie. Pour the rest of the cake batter on top of that and bake it according to the box instructions.

Take the next box cake mix and make the batter according to instructions on the back of the box. Pour half the batter in a 9” cake pan. On top of that, put your second pie. Pour the rest of the cake batter on top of that and bake it according to the box instructions.

Once both cakes are done, wait until they cool and then assemble and decorate cake as normal.

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So there you have it.

Whether you find piecaken incredible or disturbing, I hope your week is sweet!