Death by Chocolate Cake

An updated version of an old favorite; six layers of chocolate cake topped with six layers of chocolate icing dotted with chocolate chips. If you love chocolate, you will love this cake.

I once made this cake as a surprise for her birthday — it may have been her 50th. The real surprise was that I had put wax paper down on the bottom of the pan before baking so the cake wouldn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and I forgot to take it off. When I went to cut through the cake, I had an incredibly hard time even though I was using a large serrated knife. I couldn’t figure out why until we began digging in and hit wax paper. Luckily the wax paper was easy enough to pull out between the layers. But that was a real whoops-a-daisy!

Despite the wax paper mishap, the cake was an instant hit. This cake has been a staple in my family for years.

cake ingredients.

6 1-oz square unsweetened chocolate

4 ½ c. sifted cake flour

4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 sticks butter, softened

4 ½ c. firmly packed light brown sugar

6 eggs

4 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. sour cream

2 c. boiling water

icing ingredients.

3 12-oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips

5 c. sour cream

1 T. vanilla extract

cake directions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray 3 8-inch round cake pans (three inches deep) 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.

Melt unsweetened chocolate in small bowl over simmering water (or in microwave). Set aside to cool slightly.

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside.

In large mixing bowl beat butter and brown sugar until smooth and creamy.

Beat in eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in chocolate.

Stir in sour cream and dry ingredients, alternating and ending with flour mixture.

Mix with wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in boiling water. (Batter will be thin).

Bake 50 to 60 minutes (check at 50 minutes.)

icing directions.

Melt chocolate chips, set aside

Whisk sour cream and vanilla, whisk together.

Spread between cake layers and over cake.

Recipe rating: 

Food Snob

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).