Death by Chocolate Cake

I copied this recipe out of a magazine (I wish I could remember which magazine!) a few years back, tried it out for my mom’s 50th birthday cake and last year for my coworker Karen’s 50th birthday. It was a huge success both times. Since then it’s become a cake we make at least once a year (like the red velvet cake we make every year for my birthday).

cake ingredients.

• 3 1-oz square unsweetened chocolate
• 2-¼ c. sifted cake flour (= 2 cup regular flour)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2-¼ c. firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. sour cream
• 1 c. boiling water

icing ingredients.

• 1 12-oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1-⅔ c. sour cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

cake directions.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray 2 9-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray or grease the bottom of the cake pans, line with parchment paper (only the bottom) and grease the parchment paper then dust with flour.
3. Melt unsweetened chocolate in small bowl over simmering water (or in microwave).  Set aside to cool slightly.
4. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
5. In large mixing bowl beat butter and brown sugar until smooth and creamy.
6. Beat in eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Beat in chocolate.
7. Stir in sour cream and dry ingredients, alternating and ending with flour mixture.
8. Mix with wooden spoon until smooth.  Stir in boiling water.  (Batter will be thin).
9. Bake 30 minutes (check at 20 to 25 minutes.)

icing directions.

1. Melt chocolate chips, set aside
2. Whisk sour cream and vanilla, whisk together.

Nutrition per slice for a traditional two-layer cake: 598 cal. 28.5 gram fat, 19.4 g sat fat, 79 g carb, 0 g protein, 3 g fiber

I doubled the recipe in an attempt to make an 8-layer cake (by splitting the layers in half). For this cake I lost one of the layers to undercooking and decided not to split the layers because they were too moist. I prefer more layers because the frosting/filling has such great taste. The cake went over very well at a family party recently, despite the fact that I forgot to peel was paper off the bottom of one of the layers of cake before frosting it!

Recipe rating: 