Chocolate Wasted Cake

I have started to like baking for my office.  So, when a birthday popped up, I happily jumped at the chance to make something for the birthday person.  When I asked what he wanted he responded with, "It's not my birthday."  It turns out he's at the age where he doesn't want to acknowledge birthdays.

So, I set off secretly to find him a cake.  The cake that everyone loved the most in my office was a chocolate cake, so I knew that would be my base.  When I ran across this recipe in my pinterest 'Dessert' board, I knew I had to make it.

And then the disaster began...please read below to see how this experience went.

Chocolate Wasted Cake
from Somewhere in the Middle
Ingredients
Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
1 cup butter, melted
4 tsp. honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Extra ingredients:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2-3 TBSP heavy cream
chocolate chips for sides of cake
candy topping of your choice (I used Reese's Peanut Cups)

Directions 
Cake
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2) Grease two 8-inch or 9-inch pans and set aside.
3) Sift together dry ingredients.
4) In a separate bowl combine the milk, butter, honey, and vanilla.
5) Add the dry ingredients slowly, mixing until well combined.
6) Add in the chocolate chips, mixing well until evenly distributed.
7) Divide batter evenly between cake pans and bake for 30-45 minutes.
8) Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before transferring from pans to cooling racks.
Frosting
1)To make the frosting, sift together powdered sugar and cocoa powder in large bowl.
2) Add the butter, milk, and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until fluffy.
3) When cake has completely cooled, spread frosting evenly between cake layers, on top, and sides.
Cake decorations
1) Gently press chocolate chips into sides of cake.
2) Place the chopped up candy on top of the cake
3) Melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips and the heavy cream together, and drizzle on top of the cake.

It looks good, right?  Well it tasted fantastic, although a little on the rich side (which is expected when you see it's name, I guess).  This cake was all that is good about chocolate all wrapped up in one cake.  Before you take a bite though, make sure you are armed with a good glass of milk.

So I mentioned a disaster up top, right?  I should probably share all the things that went wrong with this cake.  Everything went fine up until the baking stage.  I was cleaning up my kitchen and I caught a whiff of a smell that was like burning cake.  I opened the door to my oven, and batter was flowing over the sides of both of my cake pans (see bottom picture, how there is only one layer? First indication that something went wrong).  I only filled the pans about 2/3 of the way full, but I guess that was too much.  I put foil down and continued to let them bake (which was about an hour total).  Then when I went to pull the cake out of the pans, they fell completely apart.  To the point where you can only laugh, because you're so disappointed it failed.  However, my great husband came up with a remedy.  We pressed both of the cakes into a cheesecake spring pan and stuck them in the freezer for about an hour.  It worked great.  The rest of the cake from there was easy.  But from the oven to the springform pan was kind of a mess.  But, it's good to try new things and solve your cooking/baking problems, right?

The results were delicious no matter what, so I'm glad I stuck with the cake.