Magic the Gathering Chocolate Cake
This recipe is a doctored up version of a box cake mix. What’s great about this, is that it’s quick and easy to make. For those purists out there, who only make things from scratch, don’t be afraid to give this one a try. It truly tastes awesome -it ends up be a rich cake, that’s slightly dense and very moist!Chocolate Cake Recipe:
Ingredients-
1 package of your favorite chocolate boxed cake mix (I normally pick a dark or fudge chocolate mix). Try to find an 18 oz. box, but a 15 oz. package will work too.
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
1 3/4 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, instant pudding, sour cream, oil, milk, beaten eggs and water.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Pour/spoon the batter into a baking pan. I used a 9×13″ cake pan, but two 8-9″ rounds or a 12 cup bundt pan will work too. Your batter will most likely be thick; don’t be alarmed. Just squish it into your pan and try to even it out as best as possible. If you plan on removing the cake from the pan, you can grease and flour it first to ensure it slides out easily.
5. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake for 20-30 minutes and then remove from the pan (if doing so) while it’s still warm. Wait for it to completely cool before frosting.
8 tablespoons evaporated milk
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (substitute powered sugar to keep it vanilla frosting if you wish)Instructions-
1. Cream the butter using a mixer.
2. Gradually beat in the sugar alternately with the milk.
3. Blend in the vanilla and cocoa powder until light and fluffy. Add more milk if your frosting is too thick, or sugar if it’s too thin. (If coloring frosting for decorating (light colors), set aside some before adding in the cocoa powder (dark colors i.e. brown or black, are best colored after the cocoa powder is added).
Time to decorate in whatever nerdy way you see fit! Round cakes make great Pokeballs or shields, while square cakes make great trading cards (like Magic the Gathering) or canvases for any geeky mural you want to create.
If you want to get fancy, go ahead and use fondant. I don’t care for the taste, so I just colored my frosting using Wilton gel colors and decorated that way. I used cake spatulas to help smooth out my base frosting, then piped on details using frosting tips and disposable bags (for any details that needed more shape than a simple cut-off corner on a ziplock bag).
Use a reference image, have fun, and enjoy your edible creation!
Have any questions for me for? Please let me know below in the comments.
