Sour Cream-Fudge Layer Cake

Happy Valentines Day!

My valentine made this cake for dessert tonight. I know Sour Cream Fudge cake does not sound that appealing but really this is an amazingly good cake. The cake is light and moist with a rich heavy icing that will make any chocoholic happy. The recipe was dug out of the Baking Illustrated cookbook. A book we highly recommend.

Recipe

Sour Cream Fudge Layer Cake
1 cup natural cocoa powder
2 tsp instant espresso powder , or instant coffee
1 cup boiling water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
16 Tbs unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs , at room temperature
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp table salt

Chocolate Butter Icing
9 oz bittersweet chocolate , or semisweet
8 Tbs unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup light corn syrup

1. For the Cake: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-by-1 1/2-inch round baking pans with butter or shortening. Line pan bottoms with waxed or parchment paper; grease the paper as well. Dust pans with flour removing the excess.

2. Mix the cocoa and instant coffee in a small bowl. Next add boiling water and mix until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

3. Beat the butter in bowl of an electric stand mixer set at medium-high speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds. Gradually sprinkle in sugar beating the mixture until fluffy and almost white (3 to 5 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating 1 full minute after each addition.

4. Stir in vanilla and sour cream into cocoa mixture. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. With stand mixer on lowest speed, add about 1/3 of dry ingredients to batter, followed immediately by about 1/3 of cocoa mixture; mix until ingredients are almost incorporated into batter. Repeat process twice. When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with rubber spatula. Continue again at low-speed; beat until batter looks satiny, about 15 seconds longer.

5. Divide batter evenly between pans using a scale (weigh each pan first). Smooth the batter to pan sides with an even top. Bake the cakes until they feel firm in center when lightly pressed and skewer comes out clean , 23 to 30 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks; cooling for 20 minutes. Run knife around perimeter of each pan inverting the cakes on to racks, and peel off paper liners. Flip the cakes on to additional racks and cool completely before frosting.

6. For the Icing: Melt the chocolate and butter in a medium bowl set over pan of almost-simmering water or any double boiler setup. Stir in the corn syrup. Set bowl of chocolate mixture over a larger bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until the frosting is just thick enough to spread. Apply icing on to first cake layer and spread with a long metal spatula, top with second cake layer, top second layer with icing, spread and then ice sides.

Servings: 12