Handmade Holidays: e.’s Death By Chocolate cake

One of my favorite things about the blogging community is that I meet amazing, interesting, lovely people – who then proceed to introduce me to other amazing, interesting, lovely people! When I put out the all-call, I was delighted to hear from e., who I’ve read covertly for quite a while. (I’m not the best commenter in the world. I need to work on this, I realize.) Coincidentally, e. is posting her own series of handcrafty posts, so head over and visit her to get some more handmade goodness!

Hello, it’s e. here from pinksuedeshoe.  I’m happy to share one of my very favorite recipes all dressed up for Christmas.  Several years ago a man in my mom’s neighborhood decided he was going to find the best chocolate cake recipe there was.  He tested recipes and made comparisons on a spreadsheet for almost a year.  And when he was done, he handed out his treasured spreadsheet of results and all his best recipes.

We call it “Death by Chocolate Cake.”  If ever a chocolate cake was going to kill you, you’d want it to be this one.  It is a little crispy on the outside, dense and dark and chocolatey on the inside.  It will change your life, or kill you.  One of the two.

Recipe
1 Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 3.9 ox box of Instant Chocolate Pudding
2 cups sour cream*
1 cup melted butter*
5 eggs
1 tea vanilla
1 bag mini chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients except chips in a mixing bowl and beat for 1 minute on low, then two minutes on medium, or until thick and creamy.  Then stir in the chips.  This batter is very thick, almost like cookie dough instead of batter, so it’s not for mixers that are faint of heart!  Spray a bundt pan well with nonstick spray.  Pour in batter, evenly distributing it around the pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.  Allow the cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan.  Then shake pan gently to loosen the edges and carefully turn it out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

*Don’t try and use low fat sour cream or margarine in this recipe.  If you are trying to cut calories, only eat a small slice.

Frosting Recipe

In a saucepan combine 3/4 cup plus 2 tea sugar, 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup whole milk.  Stir while bringing to a boil, 3-4 minutes.  Boil and stir for another minute to dissolve the sugar completely.  Stir in 3/4 cup + 1 TB. semi-sweet chocolate chips in batches until they are all melted and smooth.  Let icing cool for a minute or two before spooning over the cake.

Crush up about 20 peppermints in a ziplock bag with a hammer and sprinkle the peppermint bits over the icing immediately after pouring on cake.  The frosting will thicken and get firm while it cools and you’ll need those peppermints to be on your cake before that happens!  This cake will give you about 20 slices.  So invite your friends over for a party!