Homemade Portal Chocolate Cake

What’s better than chocolate, cherries, and video games? Chocolate, cherries, and video games combined into one! Enter the infamous cake from the video game Portal. I’ve seen many online recipes of this cake, and trust me, the cake is not a lie!

Today I have an extra special treat though! Most online recipes mimic the very basic recipe that’s dropped in an Intelligence Core at the end of the game. This version also happens to recommend a number of…er….tasty?? toppings like fish-shaped dirt and fish-shaped ethylbenzene.

Today’s recipe comes from Trine at Nerdy Treats. Her recipe is ultra decadent and replicates the original, real-life cake that the Portal cake is based on. It’s a black forest cake that’s layered with cherry cream that originates from a bakery near Valve’s headquarters, The Regent Bakery & Café.

I’ve already told my husband that THIS is the cake I want for my next birthday 😉
So, without further ado, let’s check this beauty out!

Chocolate Cake

•   1 cup butter
• 10 eggs
•   3.75 cups of sugar
•   2.5 cups buttermilk
•   4.75 cups wheat flour
• 10 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 3 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons vanilla

Vanilla Cream Filling

• 1 1/3 tablespoon powdered gelatin
  
•   2 cups heavy cream, whipped
  
• 4 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Chocolate Frosting

•   2/3 cup of heavy cream
• 1.5 cups (approx. 10 oz.) dark chocolate

Other things

• 6 tablespoons cherry liqueur
• 1 can dark sweet cherries in syrup
  
•  1.5 cups dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped to foam
• 8 cocktail cherries
  
• 1 birthday candle

1. Melt the butter and set it aside.

2. Whip the eggs and sugar until it is light, airy and all the sugar has dissolved.

3. Pour the melted butter and buttermilk into the egg mix and whisk it well.

4. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, soda and salt in separate bowl.

5. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ones and mix together well.

6. Distribute the cake batter into 3 round cake pans. Bake at 350 ° F for approx. 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

7. Let the cakes cool completely on a rack.

8. To make the vanilla cream filling, gently heat half of the cream and melt in the gelatin.

9. Whip the rest of the cream to a foam with the sugar and vanilla.

10. Fold the whipped cream into the gelatin cream and allow it to cool and setup in the fridge before assembling the cake.

11. For the chocolate ganache frosting, chop up your dark chocolate. Bring the cream to a boil and stir the chopped chocolate into it.

12. Cool the chocolate ganache until it thickens up and is spreadable. Set aside.

13. To assemble the cake, place the first cake bottom on a cake dish and brush with half of the cherry liqueur, then spread half of the vanilla cream filling in a smooth layer on top.

14. Next, spread half of the can cherries on top of the vanilla cream filling (feel free to use less than half a can if you want fewer cherries, or drain some of the syrup out first).

15. Layer the second cake bottom as the middle layer. Repeat as above; brush with cherry liqueur before spreading the other half of the vanilla cream frosting on top and coating with the remaining cherries.

16. Put on the last cake bottom on top and allow the cake to chill in the fridge for an hour or two to allow it to set.

17. Frost the cold cake sides and top up with the chocolate glaze. When the whole cake is covered sprinkle the sides and top with chopped chocolate. Add 8 dollops of whipped cream and cherries on top along with a single candle.

Does this cake look absolutely delicious or what?! Once again, I’d like to thank Trine for allowing me to share Nerdy Treats recipe and photos for this wonderfully chocolatey treat!