Take a break, have some fudge cake

It has been a pretty lousy week for me. My tooth is giving me problems, and I have outstanding work to complete. What’s worse, I have to attend a 2-week course (with some undesirable people). Which means that I have to go back office during the evening to work. With the financial crisis worsening as the weeks pass, rumours have it that my firm has been retrenching staff quietly too.

Finally, the weekend has come. I decided to make myself a fudge cake to cheer myself up. I love chocolate. More milk than dark chocolate though. As much as I like my Valrhona, I also love my occasional Snickers and Cadbury bars. To ensure that I am fully cheered up, I added whipped cream and lots of chocolate sprinkles. I feel much better now.

Sour Cream Fudge Cake
(adapted from Tish Boyle’s The Cake Book)

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup hot water

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 165C (325F). Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13′  pan and dust with flour, tapping out the excess. (You can also line the pan with aluminium foil for ease of removing the cake.)  

2. Sift together the cake flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.

3. Put the chocolate in a medium stainless steel bowl and place over a pot of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate is completely melted. Remove the bowl from the pot and set aside to cool until tepid.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar at medium high speed until well blended and light. At medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract until blended. Add the chocolate in two additions, mixing until blended. At low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating it with the sour cream in 2 additions and mixing until blended. Add the hot water 1/3 at a time, mixing until blended. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, stir the batter a few times to ensure it is blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

5. Bake the cake for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a wire rack.

6. Slather whipped cream over the top of the cake when it is completely cooled. Sprinkle generously with chocolate sprinkles.

Whipped Cream

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 tsp granulated sugar

1. With the mixer on whisk attachment, whip the cream on low for 5 minutes, then slowly increase to medium speed. 

2. Add sugar and continue to whip until thick. Do not over whip as the cream will separate and turn into butter. Slather the whipped cream over the cake after it is completely cooled. Add chocolate sprinkles if desired.