There’s indulgence, and then there’s the Portillo’s chocolate cake shake. Made with ice cream, chocolate frosting, chocolate sauce, and a whole slice of chocolate cake (yes, you read that correctly) the chocolate cake shake from Portillo’s is a secret favorite of many Chicagoans. The legendary hot dog chain, which first opened in 1963, came up with the idea for the shake as a way to use up the leftover pieces of chocolate cake. It was a hit, and it’s been a staple of the menu ever since.
Plenty of people have tried to recreate the cake shake at home, and though it might not taste quite the same, it’s easy to whip up. The secret is blending a whole slice of delicious chocolate cake into your shake –- no matter how guilty it might make you feel. Rich cakes made with dark chocolate work best, like a devil’s food cake. If you can’t find a singular piece of cake at a store or bakery, you can make your own.
Just don’t skip it the cake slice, or else you’ll be left with just a boring old chocolate shake! To make things really easy, you could buy an old-fashioned vanilla milkshake and just blend it with a piece of cake, but fresh is always best. Just add some vanilla ice cream to the bottom of your blender, and then scoop in the cake. If your cake doesn’t have enough frosting on it, add some more if you have it.
Don’t forget the chocolate sauce
The next vital step is to add Chocolate sauce. No, there isn’t enough chocolate in there already –- just go for it. If you need to buy some, we tested 10 chocolate sauce brands and really loved the Trader Joe’s version. Once the sauce is in, top everything off with some more ice cream, and blend.
If the mixture is too thick, you could try adding a dash of milk or letting the ice cream melt a little bit before blending again. Adding the ice cream or liquid to the blender first should also help prevent the cake from getting stuck in the blades. You don’t want to blend the shake for too long; it should be liquidized enough to fit through a straw, but retain some little cake chunks for texture.
You could follow a chocolate milkshake recipe and pour it over the cake if your blender isn’t strong enough, but you will have to eat it with a spoon. The real Portillo’s shake has the cake blended right in, and word has been spreading for a reason.
