Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe

• Prep time: 30 minutes
• Cook time: 45 minutes
• Yield: one 9x13 cake (10 to 12 servings)

Be sure to let the cake cool completely before spreading the top with frosting.

I often measure out all the ingredients the night before I bake so that making the cake the next day is fast work.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• Butter (for the cake pan)
• Flour (for the cake pan)
• 2 2/3 cups (330 g) all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons (20 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 ounces (85 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, broken up
• 1 cup (227 g or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 1 cup (193 g) dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (172 g) granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups (325 g) sour cream

For the frosting:

• 8 ounces (227 g) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup (225 g) sour cream, left at room temperature for 20 minutes
• 3/4 cup (95 g) powdered sugar, sifted into a bowl
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Method

MAKE THE CAKE (Makes one 9-by-13-inch rectangle)     

1 Prepare the pan and preheat the oven: Heat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch cake pan, dust the pan with flour, and tap out the excess. (Or line the pan with parchment paper and butter the paper.)

2 Combine the dry ingredients: In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3 Melt the chocolate: Put the 3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of hot, but not boiling, water. The bowl should not touch the water. Let the chocolate melt, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula. Remove the bowl from the water and wipe the bottom dry. Leave until cool but still liquid.

4 Make the batter: In an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter for 2 minutes. Add the brown and granulated sugar and beat for 2 minutes more.

Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the yolks and vanilla. Beat only until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. The mixture may look curdled; that’s OK.

5 Finish mixing the batter: With the mixer on low speed, blend in the melted chocolate. Then blend in a third of the flour mixture , followed by half of the sour cream. Blend in another third of the flour, followed by the remaining sour cream. Finish with the last third of the flour, blending just until the dry flour is no longer visible.

7 Pour the batter into the pan: Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading it evenly and smoothing the top. Tap it once hard on the counter to settle any air pockets.

8 Bake the cake: Bake the cake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean clean and the top springs back when pressed with a fingertip. Transfer the pan to a wire rack for the cake to cool.

MAKE THE FROSTING (Makes about 1 1/2 cups)

1 Melt the chocolate: Put the 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of hot but not boiling water. The bowl should not touch the water. Let the chocolate melt, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula. Remove the bowl from the water and wipe the bottom dry. Cool, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

2 Add the sour cream gradually. Stir well with the rubber spatula.

3 Add the powdered sugar gradually, then the vanilla and salt. Stir until the mixture is smooth and thickens like frosting.

4 Frost the cooled cake: When the cake is completely cool, use an offset icing spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the frosting on the cake, making a swirl or striped pattern, if you like.

To make “stripes” with frosting, as I have done, spread the frosting on the cake and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Wipe off the excess frosting on the spatula. Set the cake so one short side is closest to you. Holding the spatula at a 45-degree angle to the frosting, and working horizontally across the cake, start at the end farthest from you. Move the spatula from left to right across the cake. Immediately move the spatula down half an inch, and sweep it from right to left across the cake. Continue in this way – right to left, left to right, moving down half an inch – until the entire cake looks striped. The long sides will be scalloped with frosting.

To make frosting swirls, spread the frosting on the cake and use the back of a spoon to make slight indentations all over the cake, which will look swirled when you’re done.

5 Let the cake sit for 30 minutes before cutting into squares.

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