dead easy recipe - Video Game Digest

Video Game Digest presents: Portal Cake
The cake is idiot proof. You can’t screw it up. Don’t forget to buy maraschino cherries and a candle.
Cake
1 box of devil’s food cake mix
1 box chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder
Dump all ingredients in a medium bowl and until well incorporated. The cake turns out the same whether you
hand mix or use your fancy stand mixer. Cut out parchment paper rounds for the bottom of the two 8-inch pans.
These make release from the pans easier. Lightly grease the sides of the pans. Spread batter evenly into the
pans. Give the pans a couple of firm taps on the counter to help bubbles to settle so you don’t end up with weird
holes in your cakes. Cook for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.
If you’re like my grandmother, you’ll know it’s done when the smoke detector goes off. A better way is to
insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, then it’s done. If you don’t have a toothpick,
you can lightly tap the top of the cake with your finger, if it bounces back into shape, that cake is done. Let
them cool on a wire rack until room temperature and then place into freezer to make them easier to level. They
don’t have to be rock hard or anything.
While that’s happening, it’s time to make chocolate frosting and fudge filling. Here, you could make a double
portion of frosting for your filling and call it a day. It’s a good frosting but doesn’t hold its shape nearly as well
as the fudge. So keep that in mind.
Chocolate frosting
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons softened salted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch processed is nice)
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
5 tablespoons of milk (any kind will do)
Dump all of the ingredients into a bowl except the cocoa and espresso powder. Mix until fluffy. Set a half cup
of the vanilla frosting aside for decorating. Mix the cocoa powder and espresso into the rest of the frosting. It’s
that easy.
Fudge filling
2/3 cup heavy cream (I used half-and-half)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (sift if lumpy)
6 ounces dark or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet baking bar)
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
Bring the cream, corn syrup, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and half the chopped chocolate to a boil in a medium
heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until chocolate is melted. Don’t walk away from this delicious hot
mess. It will burn. Reduce heat and cook on a low boil for five minutes until its thick. Stir frequently.
Turn off the heat and add butter, vanilla, remaining chocolate, and stir until smooth. Let it cool to room
temperature or refrigerate before icing the cakes.
Okay, cake assembly time
If you bought a Ghiradelli bar for your fudge filling, you should have two ounces of it left. Shave it into pieces.
My cake looked a little sparse. If you want to completely cover your cake, you’ll want at least 4 ounces total.
Remove the cakes from the freezer. Use a long bread knife to level your cakes. Spread the fudge filling evenly
on the top of one of the cakes. Top it with the other cake. Spread frosting on the top and sides. Pat chocolate
shavings into the top and sides.
Remember that frosting you set aside earlier? Throw that into a zip top bag and cut a small hole in a corner to
have a make-shift piping bag. Pipe out eight blobs around the top of the cake’s circumference and place a cherry
on top of each blob. If your cherries came out of a jar, you’ll want to pat them dry with a paper towel so they
don’t bleed into the white frosting.
That’s it. Share your cake with Rattmann and your Companion Cube. They deserve a treat.