Meet Betty's Dessert of the Year

To create our dessert of the year for 2015, we turned to you for answers. For two months, we ran banners on BettyCrocker.com, asking how you like your desserts, pitting chocolate vs. vanilla, pie vs. cake, sweet vs. salty, hot vs. à la mode, to find out exactly how you like your sweets. (Browse the top-rated recipes in each winning category here!)

Behind the scenes, we kept tabs on your favorites, and when the results were in our test kitchen experts got to work, furiously testing various combinations of cake, filling, frosting and ice cream to create an over-the-top dessert sure to please. (It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!) 32 hours of dedicated recipe testing and countless boxes of cake mix later, our Sky-High Salted Caramel Chocolate Layer Cake was born!

It all starts with four luscious layers of Betty Crocker Super Moist™ devil’s food cake mix. Next, we sandwiched a three-ingredient, salty-sweet caramel cheesecake filling in between each layer. The icing on the cake (literally)—a rich salted caramel buttercream—also comes together in a snap, thanks to store-bought caramels and an easy mixing technique. As a final touch, garnish with toasted pecans and broken pretzels (feel free to omit the nuts if allergies are a concern), and serve with vanilla or salted-caramel ice cream, for an over-the-top indulgence your family and guests will never forget.

Too intimidated to make a layer cake? Our experts went the extra mile and created a cheesecake-stuffed cupcake version, ideally suited for baking newbies and pros alike.

So, which version will you make first? The cupcakes are perfect for bake sales and potlucks, while the cake is sure to steal the show at any birthday or dinner party. Whichever version you’re inspired to make, let us know how it goes!