The Very Epic Picaken

Do y'all know what a picaken is?

Well, don't fret. I didn't know what a picaken was either until a close friend of mine requested one for her graduation party back in May. She earned a doctorate, and thus deserved an epic dessert. My friend first heard of the picaken through this blog, but it seems picakens (or piecakens) are all over the internet.

First off, I apologize for the quality of the photos--all except the final photo were taken with my phone, and are, therefore, a bit blurry/crappy.

Okay, so here's what you do if you're super stressed and don't have time to make anything from scratch (my scenario for making this picaken):

Ingredients:
1 frozen pie, cooked and cooled to room temp, or 1 store bought already baked pie (I chose apple)
1 box cake mix (I chose spice cake)
1 tub frosting (I chose cream cheese flavored)

Procedure:

1. Preheat your oven to whatever temperature your cake mix tells you to preheat to (I think mine was either 350F or 375F).

2. Mix up your cake batter as directed. Grease a large (9", in my case) springform pan, taking time to carefully lock the outer rim so you don't have any leaks. I recommend also placing a baking sheet below the pan in the oven to catch any potential drips.

3. Place about 3/4 cup cake batter in the bottom of the pan, coating the whole bottom.

4. Take your baked, room temp pie and flip it over onto a cooling rack or large plate (the bottom of the pie will be face up). Then flip it over again into the springform pan.

5. Hysterically weep.

6. Pour the remaining cake batter over the pie, being careful not to cry too much into the bowl so as to not change the salt content and/or water down your cake.

7. Pop the cake into the oven for the recommended time on the cake box, then start swearing after that time has passed, because your cake is NOT going to be done yet, friends. It can take upwards of 20 extra minutes to have the interior portion of the cake bake properly--just be sure to check it with a toothpick (the toothpick should come out clean). Nothing should be jiggling. That will happen after you eat the picaken.

8. Cool that sucker. It will take a long, long, LONG time to cool. Like, overnight, folks. Just plan accordingly, because you need to ice this guy to cover up any pie crust poking out.

9. Ice it. It may come out crumbly (like mine), but that's okay. It will taste WONDERFUL, and you won't care as much about the crumbles.

10. Enjoy with lots of friends! This picaken can serve about 10-15 people--maybe more!

My sweet friend made me a picaken in return--same combination (apple pie/spice cake/cream cheese frosting), but she made her cake and frosting from scratch! Delicious!

What combinations of flavors would you try?