I debated what to make the celebrate this momentous occasion for a very long time. There were several cakes up for the honor, a few cupcakes, and even a pie. Ultimately, I chose a cake - albeit an unconventional birthday cake - that was described as extremely rich. A rich, dense, chocolate bundt cake. The only problem? When I removed it from the bundt pan, it didn't come out beautifully - so I kinda placed the piece that got stuck in the pan onto the cake, and then poured the ganache on top in hopes that it covered the not-so-pretty top of the cake. It didn't matter - it's chocolatey richness shined RIGHT through!
Insanely Decadent Chocolatey Sour Cream Birthday Bundt Cake
Originally from Williams-Sonoma
*FYI this makes a TON of batter.....my bundt cake tin was too small, so I left out about 1/4-1/3 of it, and made cupcakes with it....about 9!*
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 cup cocoa powder, sifted, plus more for dusting pan
7 1/2 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
20 Tbsp. (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, lightly beaten
4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I ran out of full-sized chips, so I used a mixture of regular and minis)
Ganache (which is awesome!!):
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions:
Have all the ingredients at room temperature.
Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F. Grease pan and dust with cocoa powder; tap out the excess.
Combine the cocoa powder and
the chocolate in a bowl. Add the boiling water and whisk until the chocolate melts and the
mixture is smooth and blended. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking soda
and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat paddle,
beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
Reduce the speed to low, add the brown sugar and beat until blended. Increase
the speed to medium and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy,
stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the
bowl.
Add the eggs a little at a time, beating until incorporated before adding
more and stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Beat in the vanilla until incorporated, about 1 minute.
Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three
additions, alternating with the sour cream and beginning and ending with the
flour, beating just until blended and no lumps of flour remain.
Slowly pour in
the chocolate-cocoa mixture and beat until no white streaks are visible,
stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Using a
rubber spatula, gently fold in the chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading the batter so
the sides are about 1 inch higher than the center.
Bake until a toothpick
inserted into the center of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs
attached to it, 60 to 65 minutes.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the
cake cool upright in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the pan onto the rack and
lift off the pan. Let the cake cool completely, at least 1 hour (I skipped this part and let it cool in the pan entirely, which may be why the top fell apart when I took it out of the pan later).
Return the cooled cake to the pan. Using a serrated knife,
gently saw off any excess cake that extends over the edge of the pan. Set the
wire rack on a parchment paper lines baking sheet. Invert the pan onto the rack
and lift off the pan. (I skipped this
step, too).
Meanwhile make the ganache:
In a heatproof bowl, combine the
chocolate and butter.
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the cream
just to a boil.
Immediately pour the cream over the chocolate and butter.
Whisk
until the melt and the mixture is smooth.
Pour the ganache over the top of the cake, allowing the
ganache to drip down the sides.
Let the cake stand until the ganache is set, at
least 15 minutes.
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