Chocolate Fudge Sour Cream Bundt Cake

I'm playing catch up tonight.  I made this bundt cake per Nathan's request for his birthday back in November.  It was simple and oh so good.  I found the recipe at melskitchencafe.com.

Chocolate Fudge Sour Cream Bundt Cake

For the Pan:

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

For the Cake:

• 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) butter
• 1/3 cup (1.25 ounces) natural, unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 3/4 cup (8.75 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups (11.5 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 large eggs (3.5 ounces)
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 cups (6 to 12 ounces) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

For the Glaze:

• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat the 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix together the butter and cocoa powder for the pan until the mixture is well-combined and pasty. Use a pastry brush or folded square of wax paper to wipe the cocoa/butter mixture into a 10- or 12-inch bundt pan until the inner surface is evenly coated.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt and water. Heat until the butter is melted and whisk to combine well. Set aside to cool to room temperature (just slightly warm is ok, too, but let it cool more if it's overly warm or hot).
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and baking soda. Pour in the chocolate mixture and stir to combine.
4. Add the eggs and whisk to combine. Stir in the sour cream and vanilla extract until the batter is smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until the top lightly springs back and the cake is baked through.
6. Let the cake cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before turning it out carefully onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. For the glaze, place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the cream to a simmer (either in the microwave or in a saucepan) and pour over the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes without stirring. Add the vanilla and stir the mixture until it is glossy and smooth. The glaze will set up as it cools; if you want a thin drizzle, pour it over the cake while the glaze is still warm but if you want a thicker frosting, let it cool slightly.
8. Once the cake is cooled, place it on a serving plate or cake stand and pour the glaze over the cake letting it drip down the sides.

Texas Sheet Cake

I made this for a teacher dinner I helped put on at the kids' school this last week.  It was my first time making Texas sheet cake and I will have to look no further for a good recipe.  This one was a winner. It came from allrecipes.com.  The recipe calls for a 10 x 15" pan so if your pan is larger or smaller you may need to adjust the recipe accordingly.  I tripled the recipe and spread it between two 11 x 17" metal pans and it worked out great.

Texas Sheet Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 cup water
5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

6 Tbsp milk
5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)


1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10x15 inch pan.

2) Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat in the sour cream and eggs. Set aside. Melt the butter on low in a saucepan, add the water and 5 tablespoons cocoa. Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly, then stir cocoa mixture into the egg mixture, mixing until blended.  **If I ever make this again, I will cook the chocolate mixture first so it can be cooling while I'm mixing the other ingredients.  

3) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

4) For the icing: In a large saucepan, combine the milk, 5 tablespoons cocoa and 1/2 cup butter. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, then fold in the nuts, mixing until blended. Spread frosting over warm cake.  **It starts to harden up quickly so you have to time it so that the icing is ready at the same time the cake comes out of the oven.

Unbelievable Chocolate Cake

Made this cake for Bryce's birthday - his pick - and it was delicious!  Mel never lets me down.  Make note though, I didn't say healthy, just delicious.

Unbelievable Chocolate Cake

• 1 ¼ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
• 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
• 1 ¼ cups warm water
• 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, making sure the baking rack is in the middle of the oven. Prepare your cake pans (2 circular 9" pans work great) by cutting out a piece of parchment or wax paper to line the bottom of the pan. Grease the pans, place the parchment or wax paper in the bottom of the pan and lightly grease again. Dust the pans with flour (or cocoa powder if you don’t want the white dusting on the finished cakes). Set the pans aside.
2. Using a fine mesh strainer, sift together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add the eggs, yolk, warm water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Mix on low speed (with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer) until smooth, about 3 minutes.
3. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake the cakes for about 32-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Do not overbake! Remove the pans from the oven and set the pans on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Gently run a thin knife around the edges of the pans and unmold the cakes, removing the parchment paper liners from the bottom of the cakes. Let them cool completely, top sides ups, on a wire rack.
4. Trim the tops of the cake layers with a long serrated knife to make them level. Frost as desired.  I used the recipe below:

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Mix the cream cheese, vanilla and butter with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the frosting and whip to combine (don’t overmix or the frosting will become too stiff). The frosting should be smooth and creamy. 

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Here's another great use for zucchini!  And I'd be willing to bet most kids would have no idea it's in there.  This cake comes out super moist and delicious and takes very little time to make!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1 Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
2 cups of shredded and seeded zucchini
½ cup buttermilk
1/3 cup of oil
½ cup of chopped nuts (optional)
½ cup of semi sweet chocolate chips (mini chocolate chips work great)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour 13 x 9 cake pan.  Mix all ingredients except nuts and chocolate chips on low speed for 2 minutes.  Pour ingredients into cake pan and top with nuts and chocolate chips.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted middle comes out clean. 

Banana Bars with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these for Ben's birthday.  He's not a big chocolate guy...not a big cake guy, for that matter.  But he does like banana, so I thought I'd try these banana bars instead of something more traditional.  They were a hit!  Ben had two pieces!  That's saying something.  The recipe makes quite a bit of frosting so you could try halving the recipe or just plan to spread frosting liberally on the bars!

Banana Bars with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Banana Bars:

½ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10 x 15 inch jellyroll pan or one 9X13 pan and an additional 8X8 pan. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan(s). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Set aside. In another medium bowl, beat whipped cream until stiff peaks form (it helps to use a chilled bowl and chilled beaters). Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Frost!

Spice Pumpkin Cake

I love this time of year when pumpkin recipes start popping up all over! - Love baking with pumpkin!  I wanted to make a cake for Tyler's birthday on Sunday but we had had the more traditional birthday cake the day before so I wanted to make something a little different.  I had a spice cake mix (don't remember what I ever bought that for) and so I thought I'd google recipes using the cake mix.  I went to Duncan Hines' website and came across this super easy and delicious cake which called for pumpkin - yeah!  I iced it with cream cheese frosting, which really makes anything taste good.

Spice Pumpkin Cake

• 1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Spice Cake Mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup chopped nuts (I omitted.)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 10-inch Bundt pan.
2. Combine cake mix, eggs, water and pumpkin in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in nuts. Pour into pan.
3. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 25 minutes. Invert onto serving plate. Cool completely.

 At this point I frosted mine with cream cheese frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 stick of butter, softened
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 bar (or 4 oz.) cream cheese

**You can also make this cake look like a pumpkin by coloring most of the frosting orange and reserving a small amount to be colored green.  Frost the whole cake with the orange frosting and then add an upside down cake cone to the top center of the cake and paint the cake cone with the green frosting.  For a cute picture see the Duncan Hines website.