Portillos Chocolate Cake Recipe (Copycat) - Cooking Frog (2024)

Portillo’s restaurant, located in Chicago, is famous for its Chicago-style food with an unmatched flavor, like Hot Dogs, Sandwiches, Maxwell Street Polish, and Italian Beef, but what most people don’t know about his restaurant is that they also serve a very soft, moist, mouthwatering chocolate flavored cake.

People from far-off places visit his restaurant to taste this soft, spongy chocolate cake.

Good News! You can make this amazing cake in your kitchen without visiting Portillo’s restaurant. I got this fantastic recipe recently and was so surprised when I tried it at home. Honestly, it surpassed my expectations. It tastes exactly like the original Portillo’s cake. And the good thing is its simple recipe has only a few simple ingredients.

I am so excited to share today’s easiest and simplest recipe for this fantastic cake. This Portillos Chocolate Cake Recipe is a perfect copycat of the original. You’ll love this cake recipe if you are a cake and dessert fan. Your kids are definitely going to love it.

Portillo’s Chocolate Cake

It is one of the softest, moistest, lightest, and sweetest cakes you can ever make. Its delicious chocolate taste is unmatchable. This cake is so finger-licking good. You are going to enjoy each and every bite of this cake.

I’m sharing this copycat recipe with you so that you can make this wonderful cake on your own and enjoy the delicious, rich, chocolaty flavor without going to a restaurant.

This is the simplest and the quickest recipe, and even newbies can make a wonderful cake out of it easily. This cake is so simple yet so delicious. It is appropriate for many occasions and celebrations.

You can also try it anytime, without any special occasion, just to enjoy its great flavor. So, make it for your loved ones and get ready to hear the words of appreciation.

This copycat recipe is the best of all the recipes out there, and your cake will definitely taste like the real thing. To your surprise! This cake recipe includes mayonnaise. This is the basic ingredient that makes this cake so moist and soft. Adding mayonnaise to the cake recipe may sound weird, but trust me!

Mayonnaise is nothing more than a mixture of oil and egg yolks. That’s exactly what you add to a cake recipe. Right? So don’t hesitate and try out this recipe without a doubt.

Portillos Chocolate Cake Recipe Copycat

Ingredients

  • 1 box Betty Crocker Cake Mix
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1 cup ice-cold water
  • 1 cup Mayonnaise
  • 2 cans of Betty Crocker’s chocolate frosting.

Instructions

Preparation:

  1. Gather Your Ingredients:
    • Cake mix
    • Water
    • Eggs
    • Mayonnaise
    • Betty Crocker’s chocolate Frosting
  2. Prepare Your Baking Equipment:
    • Preheat your oven to 350°F.
    • Get two 9-inch round baking pans.
    • Generously grease both pans with either oil or butter to prevent sticking.

Mixing the Batter: 3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the following:

  • Cake mix
  • Water
  • Eggs
  • Mayonnaise
  1. Start mixing the ingredients on a slow speed for about 30 seconds to ensure they’re well combined.
  2. After that, increase your mixer’s speed to high and continue mixing for 4 minutes until the batter is smooth.

Baking the Cake: 6. Evenly distribute the cake batter between the two greased pans.

  1. Place the pans in your preheated oven.
  2. Bake for 30-32 minutes. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake around the 32-minute mark. If it comes out clean, your cakes are perfectly baked.

Cooling and Frosting: 9. Once baked, remove the cakes from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes.

  1. Carefully remove the cakes from the pans and transfer them to cooling racks. Allow them to cool completely for about an hour.
  2. Take one cake and place it on a serving plate. Spread about 3/4 of your frosting evenly over the top.
  3. Place the second cake on top of the frosted one.
  4. Use the remaining 1/4 of the frosting to cover the top of the second cake.

Final Touches: 14. Now, it’s time to get creative! Decorate the cake as you wish.

  1. Once decorated, your delicious Portillo’s Chocolate Cake is ready to be served. Enjoy!

Craving more sweet moments? 🍰 If this Portillo’s chocolate cake tickled your taste buds, pin the pic below to your Pinterest board. Let’s spread the cake, love, one pin at a time!

Portillos Chocolate Cake Recipe (Copycat) - Cooking Frog (1)

Tips to Bake the Best Portillos Chocolate Cake Recipe

  • Use the eggs at room temperature.
  • Remember not to overmix the cake batter. Overmixing the batter makes the cake dry and hard. Mix the batter until all the ingredients are mixed well.
  • You can also add a bit of coffee to enhance the cake’s rich chocolaty flavor and make it even more delicious. Don’t worry; your cake won’t get the taste of the coffee. Just 1 tsp of the espresso powder is enough to do the magic.
  • Don’t open the cake during baking. Doing so alters the temperature inside the oven, and your cake may not be baked well.

Portillo’s Chocolate Cake Shake

You can also easily make the most amazing shake literary by blending this Portillos Chocolate cake. Just blend the cake until it’s smooth, and you’re done. I’ve noticed that many folks like Portillos Chocolate shake more than the cake. 🙂

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4/5 (146 Reviews)

Portillos Chocolate Cake Recipe (Copycat) - Cooking Frog (2024)

FAQs

What is Portillo's chocolate cake made of? ›

The cake is made with high-quality ingredients. It includes cocoa powder, butter, and real chocolate, which gives it a rich, chocolatey flavor and a moist, tender crumb. The frosting is also made with real butter and cream, which gives it a velvety smooth texture and a decadent taste.

How to make portillo's frosting? ›

Whip butter and cocoa together until smooth in large bowl. Stir in vanilla and powdered sugar. Slowly stream in milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Scrape sides and whip again until light, fluffy and smooth, 1-2 minutes.

Why does wacky cake work? ›

Yet, despite these 'wacky' differences, the cake is a delicious dessert. Why does wacky cake work? An eggless cake batter relies on the gluten structure of the flour and the lift provided by vinegar and baking soda.

How many calories in a Portillo's chocolate cake? ›

There are 720 calories in 1 serving of Portillo's Portillo's Famous Chocolate Cake. * The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Is there mayo in Portillos chocolate cake shake? ›

Portillo's Chocolate Cake Milkshake

One of the main ingredients in this glorious milkshake is mayonnaise.

What makes Portillos unique? ›

We're known for our famous Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, chopped salad, cheese fries, homemade chocolate cake, and chocolate cake shake. Our Italian beef is slow-roasted for four hours, thinly sliced, and served on freshly baked French bread.

What is the trick to frosting a cake? ›

10 Beginner Cake Frosting Tips
  1. Don't overbeat the frosting. ...
  2. Adjust the frosting's consistency. ...
  3. Keep your frosting and frosted cakes cool. ...
  4. Refrigerate (or freeze) the cakes. ...
  5. Trim and level the cake. ...
  6. Use a turntable and line it with parchment. ...
  7. Keep your cake in place with some frosting. ...
  8. Smooth the sides.
Oct 25, 2020

Why do you put vinegar in frosting? ›

Add white vinegar.

Although many do so to avoid cracks and to achieve a smooth appearance, I find just the tiniest bit — about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon — also curbs the sweetness, allowing the wonderfully creamy mouth-feel of the icing to truly shine.

How to make fake frosting at home? ›

To make the frosting, put a dollop of lightweight spackle in your bowl and add a bit of acrylic paint to tint it (unless you want plain white frosting...) To make a delicious buttercream, add just a bit of yellow. Then, mix it up with your eggbeater until everything is well combined and it looks like frosting.

What is a goofy cake? ›

Rich chocolate cake coated in thick chocolate ganache. Delicious decadence in every mouthful.

What is another name for wacky cake? ›

Wacky cake, also called crazy cake, lazy cake, Joe cake, wowie cake, and WW II cake, is a spongy, cocoa-based cake. It is unique in that unlike many pastries and desserts, no eggs, butter or milk are used to make the cake batter.

What is the dumb cake ritual? ›

The dumb-cake was a method by which unmarried women tried to discover the identity of their future husbands. The ritual is linked to several dates in the calendar: Hallowe'en, Christmas Eve, the Eve of St Agnes (20 January), St Mark's Eve (24 April), and Midsummer Eve.

Why is Portillo's cake so good? ›

Its not-so-secret-anymore ingredient: mayonnaise. A Portillo's slice. Texture: That dollop of mayonnaise does the trick. Portillo's cake is indeed very moist, with a pleasantly velvety crumb.

How many people does a Portillos chocolate cake feed? ›

Serves 10. Sold whole • 9-inch round, two layer chocolate cake with LOTS of chocolate fudge frosting. made fresh daily.

How many calories in a slice of homemade chocolate cake? ›

For the chocolate lovers out there, a slice of homemade chocolate cake can range from 300 to 350 calories. The primary contributors to the calorie count are the cocoa powder and chocolate chips or chunks. Opting for a lighter frosting like whipped cream can help you cut down on the calories.

What are spit cakes made out of? ›

It is a cake made of butter, egg whites and yolks, flour, sugar, and cream, cooked on a rotating spit in an oven or over an open fire.

What is chocolate cake made of? ›

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda. Add oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla; mix until smooth. Stir in hot coffee last. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

What is Italian chocolate cake made of? ›

Italian chocolate cake is made with eggs, sugar, butter, flour, bitter cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate. The final result is a cake with an intense aroma and a soft, moist texture.

What is champagne cake made of? ›

Champagne cake is a vanilla cake that is made with champagne, which replaces the usual milk or buttermilk in a vanilla cake recipe. The fizzyness of the champagne lightens the cake batter, making an incredibly soft, tender, light and fluffy cake with a delicate champagne flavor.

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