Boyfriend-worthy First Date Chocolate Cake

When a fellow Weekly Delicious blogger posted a Girlfriend Cake, I thought to myself, what about those of us who don't care for girlfriends? Think of the boyfriends, won't somebody please think of the boyfriends?!

This is a chocolate cake with a history. A few months ago, when trying to woo my boy just after his birthday and on our first date, I made a cake. You may be thinking, "Who the hell brings a cake to a first date?" Well, that's just me. As it turned out, it was damn lucky I brought a cake, since we were confined to a cafe for several hours due to the Snowmageddon and got to munch on it for a while.

Unconventional? Yes. But this cake has a 100% success rate for securing a boyfriend, and has been refined over repeated batches, so don't argue with it.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 4 ounces of unsweetened baker's chocolate
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 and 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (warmed to room temperature) cut into pieces
  
• 2/3 cup milk (whole is best)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 and 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 chocolate pudding cup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the frosting:

• 1 and 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup of light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• About 1 pound dark chocolate (your favorite chocolate will work just fine too, and chocolate chips are very easy)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two, 9 inch cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper. Lightly dust the parchment paper and sides of the pan with flour. Easy tip: Obey Alton Brown for easily cutting a piece of parchment paper for your pan.

2. In a double boiler (i.e. glass bowl on top of a pot filled with water over heat), melt the unsweetened chocolate with the water and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir periodically while you do the other steps.

3. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

4. Mix in the butter a few pieces at a time. If you have an electric mixer, now would be the time to use it. Next best thing I've used has been a pastry cutter. You can get away with a spoon or a rubber scraper it you're thorough enough, or a whisk if it's sturdy enough.

5. Gradually introduce the sugar. Once that's in, add eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, then the chocolate mixture you had in the double boiler.

6. Mix in 1/3 of the flour, followed by half of the milk. Mix completely. Then another 1/3 of the flour, followed by the second half of the milk as well as the pudding cup. Mix completely again, then add in the remaining flour and, you guessed it, mix completely once more.

7. Divide the cake batter between the two cake pans and place in the oven. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick comes out clean.

8. Let cakes cool for at least 10 minutes. Gently cut the risen dome of one of the cakes to make sure you have a level surface to place the second cake on. By "cut," I actually mean saw off with a serrated knife, otherwise you'll squish or crumble the cake. If you don't want crumbs in your frosting, you can try and gently turn the cake upside-down and gently let the crumbs fall out. GENTLY. Continue to let the cakes cool.

9. In a small pot, combine the butter, cream, and corn syrup and whisk together over medium heat until the contents come to a light simmer.

10. Add in the chocolate and stir together until smooth.

11. Shift the mixture to a large, shallow bowl. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes, then whisk. Back in the freezer for 15 minutes and whisk again. Fifteen more minutes in the freezer and whisk again. Each time the frosting should get lighter and thicker (such as the texture of frosting should be). Depending on how cold your freezer was or how warm the mixture when you first put it in, you may need another freezer/whisk cycle.

12. Take about 1/3 of the frosting and spread over the top of the cake you leveled, making an even layer on the inside. Top with the other cake, then frost the outside evenly.

If nothing else, you'll never go back to store-bought frosting again. And if this cake is a complete success, you'll have a very successful first date.