Adventures in Eating: Chocolate Chip Cake with Frosting

As far back as I can remember, I have always loved to eat cake. I found it much more interesting than ice cream, and rightly so! Cake is at the center of almost any important celebration. Birthdays, weddings, showers, anniversaries, and holidays…could you imagine them without cake?

Usually cakes are decorated ac­cording to the occasion. Sugar bells for weddings, pink roses for showers and anniversaries, and frosting clowns for children’s birthdays. My favorite was a Swan Lake Ballet cake, complete with porcelain ballerinas and a glisten­ing lake made of mirror.

The only other thing better than a beautifully decorated cake is a delicious beautifully decorated cake. It seems that so few com­mercial cakes these days are “as good as they look”. They so often are dry, artificial tasting, or plain boring!

Mrs. Beasley’s (the retail muf­fin store) makes a chocolate cake that is one of the best I have ever had. It is a dense chocolate cake studded with chocolate chips cov­ered in a luscious cream cheese frosting.

I have found a simple version of this incredible cake and was surprised to hear the recipe. It in­cludes a cake mix, something I usually steer clear of! This is the perfect birthday cake. 

Chocolate Chip Cake

1 package chocolate fudge cake mix with pudding in the mix
1 small package chocolate fudge instant pudding
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water
4 large eggs
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 box powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
Dash milk

To make cake; in a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream,   “‘oil, water and eggs. Beat for 5 minutes. Stir in chips. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10” springform pan. Bake in a pre­heated 350° oven for 50-60 min­utes. Do not overcook. Cool in pan and then remove. Put cake in freezer for one hour before frost­ing.

For frosting; mix all ingre­dients on high until very smooth. adding milk if necessary for ease of spreading. Spread over chilled cake. Store in refrigerator.

Wow!