We went away for Rich’s birthday, but the following weekend, we invited some friends over for a small dinner celebration and a cake. I normally make him his favorite Carrot Cake, but we had been out and about one day, stopped somewhere for a quick lunch, and Rich had an aha! moment. “We could’ve gone to Portillo’s, he said, and I could’ve gotten a slice of chocolate cake!”
Well… we’d missed lunch at Portillo’s, but I figured that, with a little help from da Google, I might could come up with a cake.
And so, I did.
And it is WICKED simple!
First, thanks to CenterCutCook.com for posting the recipe – and for specifying that Portillo’s uses Betty Crocker Super Moist Devil’s Food cake mix for this tasty treat.
They also go on to call for using two cans of chocolate frosting for the cake, but I figured if I was going to make a birthday cake, I was gonna go full buttercream, baby.
INGREDIENTS
For the Cake Pans:
•1 tbsp flour
•1 tbsp canola oil
•1 tbsp solid shortening (Crisco)
Cake:
•1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist Devil’s Food cake mix
•3 eggs
•1 cup ice cold water
•1 cup mayonnaise
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
•5 cups confectioners’ sugar
•6 tbsp cocoa
•1/2 cup butter
•1/4 cup heavy cream
•2 tsp vanilla
•2 tbsp hot, strong coffee
First, prepare the cake pans by combining the flour, canola oil, and shortening in a small bowl and then brushing it on the interior of two nine-inch round cake pans. You won’t need additional flour, or waxed paper or parchment; once baked, the cakes will pop out like a charm.
Heat the oven to 350º.
Combine the cake mix, eggs, mayonnaise, and ice water in a mixing bowl on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase speed to high and continue to mix for four minutes more.
Divide the batter evenly between your two prepared cake pans and pop into the over for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and place the pans on a rack to cool for five minutes, then turn the cakes out of the pans and allow to cool completely – at least an hour, but I let mine rest overnight.
If you’re using for canned frosting, then you are good to go; but I would really recommend this buttercream. It’s not hard to make, and it really compliments the cake.
Allow the butter to get really soft in a mixing bowl, then add the cocoa and cream them until light and fluffy.
Add the confectioners’ sugar, cream, vanilla, and coffee, and continue to beat until well combined.
Note: if the frosting seems too thick, add a bit more coffee, a tablespoon at a time, until you have the consistency you like – as you can see, mine was really thick, almost fudge-like.
Frost the cake as you like, and serve with or without ice cream – this cake can easily stand on its own.
By the way, I made my cakes Friday night, then stashed the cooled bits in a Tupperware cake container overnight before frosting on Saturday afternoon for dinner that night. The leftovers went back into the cake container and remained fresh, moist, and tasty up until we polished off the very last little piece the following Wednesday; so if by some miracle you don’t polish this off in one sitting, you’ve got some time to work on it.
Just a thought…