Chocolate Pudding Cake with Truffle Frosting

Oh, this cake.  This cake this cake this cake.

I have a deep, personal relationship with this cake.  Truly. 

This is my signature cake.  The one I make when I want to impress.  The cake to beat all cakes. 

The one I make when I want to die of chocolate overdose.

I haven't died yet.  But I've come close.  What a lovely way to go.

Wanna know how to make it happen? Let's get it going.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (or whatever it says on the cake mix box).

First you'll need a box of chocolate cake mix.  Put it in a bowl.

Then you'll dump a large (5.9 oz) package of chocolate instant pudding mix on top.  Mix that together.  Or not.  It'll be okay either way.

On top of that add a cup of sour cream.

Then four beaten eggs.  I have a picture of this but for some reason, Blogger keeps turning it on its side.

Well, you know what four beaten eggs look like.

Add a cup of vegetable oil.

And a half cup of warm water.

Mix that all up together.  And be prepared.

It is THICK!

The first time I made this I literally could not believe how thick this was.  It's more like a thick mousse than a cake batter.

Pour this into your prepared pans.

Well, maybe not "pour".  More like "plop and try to spread evenly".

Good luck with that one.

I used 9 inch pans which were buttered and floured in advance.  For chocolate cake it's better to use cocoa powder instead of flour...but I didn't have any cocoa powder.  Still working on stocking my pantry.

You can follow the instructions on the back of the box of cake mix for baking instructions.  The additional ingredients didn't do anything to change the bake time.  I had the cakes in a 350 degree oven for 33 minutes and they turned out just great!

While the cakes cooled (and they do need to cool totally and completely!), prepare the frosting.

This, friends, is what sends this cake over-the-top in a big way.

I will give you the original measurements here, even though I did 1.5 times the original.  Why? Because I tend to go overboard.  There is no such thing as too much of a good thing in my world.  Hence my figure.

And once again...this frosting is beyond ridiculous.

Heat 2 cups of heavy cream until it is very warm and just about to simmer.

Stir in a quarter cup of light corn syrup.

And then add 12 ounces of semisweet chocolate.  You can use chips or chopped baking squares or a mixture of the two - it matters not.

Mmm...chocolate.

Here's what this will look like when you first add the chocolate to the cream.

Turn the heat down to low and then whisk...

And whisk...

And whisk some more.

In fact, never stop whisking or stirring or whatever it is you're doing.  Just never stop until it is all smooth and there are no lumps of chocolate left.

Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner.  Here is what your mixture will look like when you're finished.

Oh lordy.  Oh lordy, lordy.  Lordy.

Try to refrain from drinking this.  It'll ruin your appetite for the finished product.

Pour the mixture into a bowl, cover it and place it in the fridge.  This will need to get cold enough to whip up so it'll be in there for a while.  Don't be afraid to get in there and stir it once or twice, but it's not necessary at all.

Eventually...after some time and nail biting and daydreaming...your mixture will be nice and cold.  Time to beat it up!

Finally you'll get to this lumpy, wonderful consistency.

I love you.

Now, don't do what I did at this point.  I had visitors show up just as I finished whipping the frosting so rather than leaving it out to get melty (and it will - remember, this is fancy whipped cream we're talking about here, so it'll get soft if left out), I popped it back into the fridge for a little while.

Don't do that if at all possible.  And if you do, let it sit out for a little while before you attempt to frost the cake with it.  Because if you don't and try to use it right out of the fridge, it'll be darn near impossible.

Above, you'll see the bottom layer of my cake prior to the start of frosting.  Notice the squares of waxed paper underneath.  This really is a great technique to clean up smeary frosting.  Use four squares, overlapping them to make sure you cover the whole plate, but be sure that you can easily yank them out from underneath when you're finished.

And voila! You'll be left with a neat presentation!

Now let's skip ahead to the finished product.  Again, visitors distracting me and leaving me unable to take pictures, frost and converse at the same time.

Plus I couldn't sing love songs to the frosting like I normally do.  Which hurt a little bit.

And here she is.  Isn't she lovely?

Try to get yours in the center of the plate, okay? Don't be like me.

And here she is inside.  Because it's what's on the inside that counts.

I think it's hysterical that I totally lost my sense of proportion and went INSANE on top.  It's, like, as thick as the cake itself! Meanwhile, the sides are so poor and almost naked.

Bakerella I am not.  I'm sure she's breathing a sigh of relief somewhere, knowing that she's safe from me.

Hey! Again: Visitors.  Distractions.  Plus I had meatballs and baking bread to tend to.

Sometimes I bite off more than I can chew.

But not with this cake.  This moist, rich, decadent cake with the frosting that totally melts in your mouth.  Keep it in your fridge so the frosting stays firm.

It should be a sin.  But happily, it is not.

I'm going to eat some of this now.  Because, well, I just blogged about it and looked a many pictures of it.  Plus it's taking a ton of room in my fridge and I, uh, need to get it out of there.  I'm sure Rob will be heartbroken if he is called upon to help me.

Enjoy!!!

CAKE

1 boxed chocolate cake mix
1 5.9 oz box of instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
3 beaten eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix on medium speed for two minutes. Pour into two prepared pans - follow directions on box for cook times, depending on size and type of pans.

FROSTING
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
8 oz semisweet chocolate

Heat cream and corn syrup until barely simmering. Add chocolate and turn heat to low. Whisk constantly until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Transfer to large bowl and cover with plastic wrap to prevent skin forming on top of mixture. Chill in refrigerator for a least one hour, or as long as it takes for mixture to become fully chilled. Beat mixture once cold until texture becomes thick and lumpy.

Frost cake layers with truffle frosting and enjoy!


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