Evil Chocolate Cake

I feel like I need to go to confession after encountering this chocolate cake, and I'm not even catholic.  I call this cake "Evil" (not the original name, of course) because it calls to you with all its chocolatey deliciousness and forces you to eat piece after piece without even thinking.  On top of all that, it's EASY, giving you no excuse not to make it whenever you want something truly decadent.  I found that triple-wrapping the last slice in saran wrap and then wrapping it in tin foil prevented me from consuming the entire thing in less than 36 hours.  The jury's still out on whether the remainder of the thing is making it into the office tomorrow.

Seriously, though, this is the best chocolate cake I've ever had in my entire life, and I've had some good ones.  I had been meaning to make it for a while now because almost everyone who reviewed this recipe on allrecipes.com gave it 5 stars--always a good sign.  It's thick, rich, and chocolatey, and somehow manages to be on the light and airy side.  And best of all, it begins its life as a cake mix!!

I followed the recipe and chose a devil's food mix, but reviewers said they used all kinds of different combinations of cake mix, pudding, and chips.  When I try this next time, I'll use a fudge cake mix with peanut butter chips, because I LOVE peanut butter and chocolate together.

The light texture of the finished product surprised me because the batter is SUPER thick.  I didn't "pour" the batter into the bundt pan as much as "spooned" it in, so I was afraid that it would turn out more like a big brownie than a cake.  Not so.  Not that there's anything wrong with a "big brownie."

Can you see how thick the batter is?

Out of the oven.  I shaved off the bottom (top here) so that the cake would lie flat on the platter, which meant I got to taste test!

All this cake needs is some powdered sugar or maybe some light vanilla ice cream, but I think it would be too rich with any kind of icing.  It really is ooey-gooey all by itself, but the powdered sugar makes it look pretty.

Definitely try this for yourself.  I promise you won't be disappointed. 

Chocolate cake

Adapted from allrecipes.com

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix, or another chocolate cake mix

1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix (though I accidentally got the smaller box and it turned out fine)

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup milk

4 eggs, beaten lightly

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a bundt pan generously.

2. In large bowl, mix together with a hand mixer the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and water. Stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into bundt pan.

3. Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean/few crumbs.  Cool cake thoroughly in pan for at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate.

4.  Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.  Other garnish ideas: fresh whipped cream, light vanilla ice cream, or mixed berries.