Renee Ryan's Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake

I'd like to welcome Renee Ryan to the blog, whose next book from Love Inspired Historical, COURTING THE ENEMY, is an inspirational romance set during World War II. Visit Renee online at ReneeRyan.com

Three Random Questions for Renee Ryan

1. Tell us about something fun you did over the summer.
I had the pleasure of moving my daughter out of her dorm and into her very first apartment. Okay, I know that doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, but I was able to reconnect with her after her first year of college. I hadn’t realized I would miss her as much as I did. We had a great time rushing around town, getting lost (on my part) and eating lots of frozen yogurt. I even enjoyed buying all the necessary items for her new apartment, especially the things for her kitchen. Who knew there were so many different sized pans?

2. What do you remember about the first date you ever went on?
We were both way under dressed. It was a semi-formal event for one of the high school clubs. We were naïve sophomores and thought semi-formal meant jeans without holes in them. At least we were both equally embarrassed when we walked into the room. I guess that helped the first-date jitters, or at least put the tension on the situation rather than each other. I dated that boy for months after that, forever in teenage years. :)

3. COURTING THE ENEMY is a World War II historical romance. Share an interesting fact that you learned while researching this time period.
One of the best things about writing COURTING THE ENEMY was that I was able to set it in the United States just a few miles from where I grew up as a child. The story is focused on a Nazi plot to bring the war to American soil. The Nazi’s actually did land a group of saboteurs off the coast of Florida, walking distance from my home. Thankfully, the attempt failed. Because my father is a WWII vet and lived close to where this real-life event occurred I was able to research the area with him by my side. A blessing all around.

Recipe: Renee Ryan's Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake

2 cans of cherry pie filling (21 ounces each)
1 box of chocolate cake mix
2 sticks of butter, sliced into 12 pieces each
2.25 ounce bag of chopped pecans
1/8 cup white sugar
This recipe is so easy and so delicious
Preheat the oven to 350.
In a 9 x 13 cake pan:
Dump the 2 cans of cherry pie filling into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the box of chocolate cake mix evenly on top of that. Distribute the butter slices on top of the cake mix. Spread the pecans evenly over the butter and cake mix. Finally, sprinkle the sugar over all.

Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes and serve warm.

Many variations: 2 cans peach pie filling and yellow cake mix, walnuts. Or 2 cans peach pie filling, white cake mix, pecans or other nuts (or no nuts)... use your imagination!

This is also delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.