I Love Chocolate Cake

Nothing says love like chocolate. For me, I'm not too picky about what kind of chocolate, though the dark and milk varieties are my favorites. Chris, my brother Brett, and I once toured a real chocolate factory - Scharffen Berger - in San Francisco (which has now closed down), and it was like visiting heaven. We got a great education on chocolate that day, and although I have a great appreciation for Scharffen Berger's amazing chocolate, I'll take (eat) Hershey Kisses any day. I think Chris feels the same way, he being even more of a chocolate lover than I am. While that may be surprising, case in point, he would choose chocolate cake over a slice of apple pie any day. I'd probably go for the apple pie first because pie is one of my favorite foods, and then sneak a small slice of the cake afterwards. But I found a chocolate cake recipe that I've made twice now - just within the last 4 weeks. That's saying something because most chocolate cake recipes are just so-so. Not so-so with this one. The different kinds of chocolate, and I think the brown sugar, make it an amazing cake. So if you're looking for a chocolate cake recipe for your Valentine (or for any time, for that matter), here's a great one to make. Your sweetie will thank you.


Double Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
(Courtesy of Daisy Brand)

Ingredients:
1 cup cocoa
6 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
3/4 cup boiling water
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
10 T. butter (1 1/4 sticks), softened
2 cups brown sugar
1 T. vanilla
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups Daisy Brand sour cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 heavy pinch powdered sugar *as needed

Directions:

Set the butter out to soften at least an hour prior to baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray. [Funny story: I found out the hard way that my bundt pan wasn't big enough when a waterfall of chocolate cake descended onto the bottom of my oven. Thank goodness for "self-cleaning" ovens, right? The second time was more successful. I put the extra batter into four smaller bundt cake molds. So be forewarned that this recipe definitely makes a lot of batter!]

Mix cocoa and chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over chocolates and stir to melt. Let stand to cool (about 2 to 3 minutes). Meanwhile, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Cream butter, brown sugar, vanilla until creamy. Add eggs to the butter mixture. Fold the sour cream into the cooled chocolate mixture. Add the flour mixture and the sour cream chocolate mixture to the butter mixture and blend. Add chocolate chips and stir to incorporate. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes or until a inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly before removing from pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. *Optional – may serve with whipped cream, ice cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup.