Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake

Cake
¾ C (2 ¼ oz/64 g) natural cocoa, not Dutch
6 oz/170 g bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 t (1 g) instant espresso powder (optional)
¾ C (177 ml) water (boiling)
1 C (sour cream, room temperature
1 ¾ C (8 ¾ oz/248 g) all-purpose flour
1 t (6 g) salt
1 t (4 g) baking soda
12 T (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
2 C (14 oz/397 g) light brown sugar
1 T (15 ml) vanilla extract
5 large eggs, room temperature

Garnish (optional)
Glaze
4 oz/113 g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ C (118 ml) heavy cream
1 ½ T (27 ml) corn syrup
or
powdered sugar for dusting

Pan – Stir melted butter and cocoa together in small bowl until paste forms; using a pastry brush, coat all interior surfaces of standard 12-cup Bundt pan. (If mixture becomes too thick, microwave for 10 to 20 seconds.) Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350° F (177° C).

Cake – Combine cocoa, chocolate, and espresso powder in medium heatproof bowl; pour boiling water over and whisk until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature; then whisk in sour cream. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in second medium bowl to combine. Set aside.

In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, mixing about 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down bowl with spatula after first 2 additions. Reduce to medium-low speed (batter may appear separated); add about one third of flour mixture and half of chocolate/sour cream mixture and mix until just incorporated, about 20 seconds. Scrape bowl and repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining chocolate mixture; add remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated, about 10 seconds. Scrape bowl and mix on medium-low until batter is thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan. Bake until wooden skewer inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Rotate pan one half turn midway through baking. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto parchment-lined wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 3 hours.

Glaze – While cake is cooling, make chocolate glaze. Place chopped chocolate and corn syrup in medium bowl and set aside. Combine heavy cream and sugar in small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir until cream is hot and sugar has dissolved. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and whisk to smooth. Generously drizzle glaze over cooled cake, allowing it to drip down sides

Dust with confectioners’ sugar, transfer to serving platter, and cut into wedges; serve with Tangy Whipped Cream and raspberries, if desired.

Serves: 10 to 12

18 Mar 18 – Made for St Patrick’s Day dinner party with Westmorland, Morris and Drapers. Being an American Test Kitchen (ATK) recipe, I followed recipe as written including using optional espresso powder and their suggested method preparing of Bundt pan which seemed to work especially well. I used small pastry brush (not silicon) to apply. I prepared paste in microwave, melting butter and cocoa together for 2 mins on level 3. The time and level were perfect. Used my proofer set at 80 degress to bring chilled items (sour cream, butter and eggs) to room temperature. It worked well. Although ATK recipe warned that after adding egg, batter may look broken. Mine did not. Baked in island oven for 52 mins. Still had wet batter at 50 mins. After cooling on rack, cake came out of pan perfectly with a little encouragement. Prepared chocolate glaze from a bundt cake recipe on www.twopeasandtheirpod.com. My glaze was a little thick and didn’t flow well probably because my heavy cream mixture wasn’t as hot as it could have been. I finished off the glaze with caramel sauce. The first cut indicated cake was correctly baked. Texture soft and nicely moist with a good clean but not over strong chocolate flavor. Several guests specifically commented liking it because it was not overly sweet. Additionally, garnished with a dollop of whipped cream and topped with a raspberry.