Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Frosting


This isn’t one of those fudgey, intense, death-by-chocolate cakes, but something closer to devil’s food cake in ingredients and character. It’s more cocoa-flavored than chocolate, and more light and airy than dense.
The chocolate frosting, however, is pure decadence. It perfectly balances more refined nature of the cake. Cover the whole pan with a thick layer of this frosting and serve slices right out of the pan.

I love to make this cake! The main ingredients are unsweetened cocoa powder, bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate, and sour cream. If you have those on hand, you’re good to go. You can bake it at the drop of a hat, though I often measure out the ingredients the night before I bake so that making the cake is even faster work.
The sour cream adds richness and moisture, but the dark brown and granulated sugars offset any sour flavor. This finished cake is chocolate, through and through! In the frosting, powdered sugar and semisweet chocolate do the same thing.
Recipes for sour cream chocolate frosting have been around for ages and there are many slightly different variations. The one I like best, and use here, is basically just melted chocolate, sour cream, and powdered sugar. The quality of your chocolate matters a great deal; use the best-quality chocolate you can find.
This produces such a thick, delicious, spreadable frosting, it almost seems like magic. You’ll have fun making swirls or stripes or whatever whimsical patterns your spoon or spatula leads you to.
Be sure to cool the cake completely before topping with the lustrous frosting. You can store the unfrosted, cake, wrapped in foil and kept in a cool place, for up a day before frosting.

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe

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
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 ounces (85 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, broken up
  • 3 tablespoons (20 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup boiling water
  • 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

Read More: Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Frosting


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