In honor of Valentine’s Day, I made a chocolate cake for my chocoholic husband today. The recipe was given to me by a friend of mine, and then modified a bit, and it is one of the most fabulous chocolate cakes I’ve had. Usually, I just dust it with powdered sugar, but this time I made an orange buttercream frosting, and got a bit carried away with the pink food coloring. I added some blossoms from our plum tree for decoration. Here’s the recipe:
6 oz. good-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 Tbsp. instant espresso
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/4 c. sour cream (original recipe: 1 cup 1/2&1/2 and 5 oz. cream cheese)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1. Pre-heat oven to 350º. Lightly butter and flour 2 9-inch cake pans (original recipe: bundt pan).
2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Turn off heat, but leave in water bath to warm.
3. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso daking soda and salt. Set aside
4. Cream together the butter and sugars with a mixer on high. Then add the eggs, one at a time. Blend in the sour cream. Then, with the mixer on low, mix in the melted chocolate.
5. By hand, fold the flour mixture and chocolate chips into the wet mixture, using a spatula. Don’t over-mix.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake for 35-40 minutes (original recipe: 45 minutes, for bundt pan), or until a toothpick comes out clean.
For the buttercream frosting:
1 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
5-6 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
juice of 1 orange (about 2 Tbsp.)
food coloring if desired
4 COMMENTS
Emma Thomsen
13 years agoNot only do you have chocolate cake but plum blossom too!!! We don't have any sign of the slightest bud on the trees in London. Although our daffodils are beginning to bud in the garden, Spring will be here soon (won't it??).
Sarabeth
13 years agowow-that cakes sounds delish! i'll definitely be adding this to my recipe list-thanks for sharing 🙂
sarabeth
Elsa
13 years agoI heart chocolate cake too ~ well really, just about any cake will do, but chocolate is my favorite. I'm a Vegan and there are enough ingredients out there that I could probably make it! Thanks for the recipe!
monaluna
13 years agoIt was delicious, though I actually think the buttercream frosting was a bit too much. A less-sweet cream cheese frosting might have been better. I also added in details on the original recipe – it's scrumptious, but I always forget the cream cheese, and usually have sour cream on hand.