So, I know that this blog is *supposed* to be about healthy family meals. But, every once in a while, you need a treat. Maybe you have a party to attend. Maybe you are having dinner with your dad and want to make a treat, but you are away from your house and you don’t have your recipes and darn it – you just really want to make something good.
So you turn to your standby – the cake you used to make religiously. The one you made so often that you have the recipe engraved in your brain, the cake that your kids have missed the most since you both stopped making treats and decided to cook from scratch. The cake with which your name used to be synonymous, the cake that calls your name to people -
The Darned Good Chocolate Cake.
Delicious warm out of the oven by itself, this cake needs no frosting – although friends have frosted it and adore it decorated, to me it’s just too much. One friend made a vanilla/butterscotch version, but to me, it just wasn’t same. I’ve even experimented and made it lower in fat by using egg beaters and reduced fat sour cream.
Here is my recipe, with my notes in italics. Enjoy – it’s best served with whipped cream and berries. Ice cream is delicious as well.
In a mixing bowl, place one package chocolate cake mix (milk chocolate is my favorite, but you can use dark or regular chocolate), one package instant chocolate pudding mix (I like the white chocolate or the cheesecake flavor, but any chocolate flavor is fine), 4 eggs, 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil, and 4 oz sour cream.
Mix on low for 2 minutes. Scrap bowl down thoroughly and then mix on medium high for 2 minutes. Batter should be creamy and look satiny. Stir in one bag of chocolate chips. (I REALLY like the mini hershey kisses, and have been known to buy a bag of regular kisses and cut them in half. That might be just a bit much for you, and so you can feel free to use any type of chocolate that you like.
If you are making the vanilla version, use white or yellow cake mix, vanilla or butterscotch pudding and either white chocolate or butterscotch chips.
Pour the batter into a greased Bundt pan – it must be a bundt pan, as the batter doesn’t cook correctly in a different pan – and bake at 350 for 40-60 minutes, or until the cake pulls away from the sides. A cake tester should be used to make sure that the inside of the cake is completely finished. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, and then invert onto a cooling rack.
Serves between one and ten – depending upon how many hungry people are at the table.
photo from kimberlykv – Creative Commons License
