Chocolate Bundt Cake

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Does one really need a reason to make cake? Well, Easter is upon us and I love a chocolate cake. I especially love the look of bundt cakes. There are so many options and they make for such beautiful presentation. I used the Nordic Ware Jubilee Bundt Pan , but there are so many others to choose from. This recipe is amazing with the chocolate icing but I opted to simply dust with powdered sugar and top it with a lovely, floral crown. This is a moist but dense cake, almost like a pound cake and perfect for Easter or you know, just because!

Bundt cakes originally were created as an elevated way of presenting a traditional cake. If you want to geek out on it's history, here's a link to the bundt cake's origins.

Ingredients

Makes 1 Cake

  • 1 cup brewed coffee*
  • 16 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 cup)*
  • 3/4 cup Pernigotti Cocoa or Dutch process cocoa (I used Pernigotti)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup sour cream or regular or Greek yogurt (full-fat preferred)

Optional Icing

  • 2/3 cup chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, or chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350F degrees.
  2. For cake, place the coffee, butter and cocoa in a medium sauce pan, heating and stirring until butter melts.
  3. When butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk until smooth. Let cool for 10 minutes.
  4. While chocolate cools, put the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour in to a large mixing bowl, whisking to combine.
  5. Pour the cooled chocolate in with the dry ingredients, mixing until fully combined.
  6. In a separate, small bowl, combine vanilla extract, eggs and sour cream, whisking until combined and smooth.
  7. Add to chocolate batter, mixing until fully combine. (I used a whisk and gave the ole wrist a workout!)
  8. Thoroughly grease a non-stick bundt pan (I used baking spray), and pour batter into pan.
  9. Bake 50-55 minutes until a long skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
  10. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before turning pan over onto a cooling rack. After 5 more minutes, remove the pan from the cake. 
  11. Dust with powdered sugar - OR - if you opt to do icing, let cake completely cool, first.

Icing

  1. Combine chocolate and cream in a saucepan over medium heat until cream starts to bubble around the edges.
  2. Remove from heat and stir until chocolate completely melts and mixture is smooth.
  3. Once cake has cooled, spoon icing over cake, letting it drip down the sides.

*Water may be used instead of coffee
*Make sure and cut sticks of butter in to individual tablespoons so it melts faster

All photos Β©2017 Jonathan Stiers | Recipe from King Arthur Flour

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