Triple Chocolate Delight – Oh My!

Welcome to the 26th day of November. This year it is also known by a variety of other names, most notably Black Friday. In America, Black Friday is the official kick-off to the holiday shopping insanity. Die hard shoppers and bargain hunters will sacrifice Thanksgiving with family to wait in line for that mad dash to score those deals. It’s some sort of right of passage for some.

I’ve never shopped Black Friday. Years gone by, we’ve celebrated the day after Thanksgiving with an extension of Thanksgiving itself. More time with family. Turns out we aren’t alone. The day after Thanksgiving is also National Day of Listening Day. What’s that? Glad you asked. Since family and friends have gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving, it makes sense to set aside the day after to record family history and stories to be preserved and passed down. Get the scoop on Grandma’s favorite memory from Grandma herself. Find out how Dad got that scar over his eye or how a nickname came to be or the time the dog ate the turkey. These are moments that need to be shared. Precious moments that make us who we are.

There’s another movement taking place – and they are the folks behind Buy Nothing Day. As a response to Black Friday, Buy Nothing Day urges us to change our purchasing habits, to move away from consumerism and produce less. Yeah, not something I can necessarily get behind. Although I like the idea of giving more from the heart than from the big box store. Now that’s something I can really support.

The 26th of November is also National Cake Day. Doesn’t matter what kind of cake – any cake will do. And it doesn’t matter if you bake it or buy it, cake is cake – meant to devour with great pleasure. Serve it with ice cream, or a cup of coffee or a big glass of frosty cold milk. It really doesn’t matter how you have your cake, so long as you have cake.

I present to you my Triple Chocolate Delight. It’s a chocolate cake with chocolate chips and a chocolate buttercream frosting. Enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Delight
Chocolate Cake
3 Eggs
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1 box Chocolate Cake Mix
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Mini Chocolate Chips, divided

Heat oven 325-degrees. Grease bottoms and sides of two 8- or 9-inch round dark; non-stick cake pans with shortening or margarine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat eggs with oil until foamy. Add cake mix and milk, beat on low speed until moist, about 30 seconds.

Increase speed to medium, continue to beat for 2 minutes. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over the batter in each pan, about 1/4 cup per cake layer. Tap the pans on the counter to release any trapped air and help chips sink slightly into the cake.

Bake on the middle rack in the heated oven for about 23 minutes or until cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean and cake springs back when touched lightly.

Let cake cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1-1/2 cups Butter
6 cups Powdered Sugar
3/4 cup Unsweetened Dutch Cocoa
2 heaping tablespoon Hot Fudge
3 or 4 tablespoons Light Cream

Soften butter, cream in the bowl of a stand mixer.

In a large bowl, sift powdered sugar with cocoa, set aside.

Whip hot fudge into the creamed butter. Blend until well incorporated. Add powdered sugar mixture in 3 or 4 additions, blending completely between each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed.

Add light cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until frosting is of a spreadable consistency.

Note: If a deeper “chocolate” is desired, add more hot fudge.

To Assemble: Trim top dome of 1 layer of cake if necessary. Place on a cake platter, trimmed side down. Spread a layer of frosting over the top and out to the sides.

Top with remaining cake layer, right side up. Generously frost the top and sides of the cake.

Serve and enjoy!