Windows 7 Celebration with Will's Chocolate Cake

Yes, I was one of the many Microsofties who hosted a Windows 7 party over the last two weeks. See here. However, I would bet my money that noone else baked a damn good chocolate cake to celebrate. Especially one inspired by the infamous baker, William Heyer.

We dressed nerdy, ate chocolate cake and toasted good 'ol Microsoft and the launch of its great new operating system: Windows 7 - which releases on October 22nd. I highly recommend you upgrade!

The recipe was courtesy of one of my best friends in college, Will Heyer, who is definitely responsible for many from the Penn Class of 2009 gaining that freshmen 15. Whether it was cookies, cakes, breads, or even an occasional baked Mac n' Cheese - Will learned his baking skills from his Jewish mother and a few odd jobs working at famous NYC restaurants. I would say basic baking is more science than art - although Will definitely adds a touch of creative genius and artistic skill to make not only tasty cakes, but beautiful ones as well.

Anyway, the recipe is really simple since it essentially an enhancement on a devil's food box mix.

Ingredients:

18.25 oz devil’s food cake mix (such as Duncan Hines)
1 package (3.8 oz) instant chocolate pudding
¾ cup water
½ vegetable oil
4 large eggs
8 oz sour cream
8 oz chocolate chips
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Whipped cream or ice cream ** This is an essential ingredient and the cake is best served warm with really good vanilla bean ice cream!


Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 or 10 inch bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder. I used a rectangular pan - Will often uses a round bundt pan and even uses a pan molded like a castle - its pretty cool!

2. Place all wet ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer. I don't own an electric mixer - I used a fork and a lot of forearm strength.

3. Add the cake mix and pudding mix to the wet ingredients and mix on high speed for 4 minutes. Mix til smooth

4. fold in the chocolate chips. Fold means add in or pour in while stirring lightly.

Optional: add in other yummy items like nuts, peanut butter chips, bananas, etc. I like to be creative!

5. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. I baked the cake for about 50 minutes - it depends a lot on the type of pan you use. The toothpick trick is good, but remember the chocolate chips will melt on the inside so the toothpick might not actually come out clean.

6. Close your windows and let the smell of chocolate cake permeate your apartment!

7. Let cool before removing from pan. Oh man, this is the hardest part. I can barely resist sinking a fork into it.

Optional: Decorate cake with icing, candles, edible sprinkles, etc. This is the fun part!

8. Dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving with whipped cream or ice cream.

 עס געזונטערהײט  - Est gezunterhayt!