There have been rumors floating around for years that Portillo’s famous chocolate cake actually comes from a mix. Now that I think about it, I wouldn’t be surprised — the cake is almost unnaturally moist but doesn’t have a buttery richness, and the same goes for the frosting, which is mind-numbingly chocolatey but without any depth or nuance, and it doesn’t become quite solid after refrigeration as buttercreams do. Still, it’s difficult to resist the lure of its glossy, lusciously frosted layers any time I visit Portillo’s.
Several versions of the recipe exist on the web, but this is the most common one:
1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist Chocolate Butter Recipe cake mix
3 large eggs
1 cup water
1 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 round cake pans. [It doesn’t specify what size. I guess 8 inch would work.]
Beat all ingredients for 4 minutes. Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Frost with 2 cans Betty Crocker chocolate frosting.
I’ve never gotten around to trying this recipe — if I’m going to spend time baking, I’m going to bake something “real”. I mean, come on. That would be like trying to pass off frozen pizza as your own. Besides, it’s easier to plunk down $2.25 a slice. I’m referring to the cake, but I suppose this would apply to pizza as well.
4 Comments
You can upgrade the recipe by using an aoili or fresh mayo (to get a buttery rich flavour). Replace the water with orange liquor or a muscato. Bake it for 45 minutes in a bundt pan and glaze it with a simple vanilla glaze (water, sugar, vanilla) while it’s still warm.
I was in the drive-thru at the downtown Chicago Portillo’s and I saw an employee carry out to the trash a HUGE opaque garbage bag filled with nothing but empty cake mix boxes. This is not me relaying what “my hairdressers cousin’s next door neighbor heard about from a guy who’s uncle used to work at Portillo’s”. I saw this with my own eyes. Since I’d heard that mayo is the secret ingredient in Portillo’s chocolate cake (which I love love love), I came to realize that it is just just good old Duncan or Betty with mayo in place of the vegetable oil.
I’m craving Portillo’s chocolate cake right now which is how I discoverd your post. In my crave-addled brain, I obviously can’t spell or properly punctuate!
I got this recipe long ago from a friend who used to work there. The recipe above is correct but left out one important step- my friend said you have to use ICE water. I don’t know why but that is the only way I make it and it rocks.
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