don't run from me sour cream...

I wanted cake. I needed chocolate. I am needy, yes I agree. But let's not make this about my flaws. This should be more about my huge blogger (girl) crush on Paris Pastry (which means it should be your huge new crush too, seeing as how I have exceptional taste and you should follow everything I say...no that was not sarcasm) and since reading through her archives time and time again, she has expressed this undeniable infatuation with not only Nigella Lawson, but this particular chocolate cake recipe that has been nagging me ever since. Sour Cream Chocolate Cake to be exact, and it comes highly recommended by Paris Pastry, so that's enough for me.

What's funny is that while reading up on it, so many people gave the recipe negative reviews, so bad in fact, I almost did not make the cake. But then it hit me like a ton of bricks after reading a statement from one commenter...some people just can't bake. I know! Can you believe it? But its true. All these months of slaving over comments and reviews, taking notes on how to improve things, never once taking into account that some people just can't bake for the life of them, and so they take out their frustrations of failed attempts on poor Nigella, Martha and the rest of the domestic clan. I mean come on, it should of dawned on me sooner, right after I read, "this recipe sucked, I have been baking for years...and this is my first recipe from scratch since I usually use Duncan Hines". Um yeah, Duncan Hines? Really? I didn't get the memo that DH makes you a professional baker. Nice to know now though.

So anyway, the moral of this story...follow your gut and just bake. Don't let reviews or commenters deter you. If you read a post from one of your most trusted bloggers, that should definitely be enough to give you the courage. And if all fails, nothing is more fun than a baking adventure to learn from right, right? Well, I guess eating a perfectly moist delectable cake is more fun, and rewarding, but you get my point.

So yes, this cake is MUST. Its more than a must, its a can't-live-without-it recipe. Its that damn good. But here's the thing, its an indulgent kind of cake. Its ultra moist, super chocolatey, and definitely not yo mama's chocolate cake (thanks Paula Deen for that). Its a toss up really, on which is better, this recipe or this one here. See, I sometimes crave rich milk chocolate (that ooey gooey kind, perfect with ice cold milk ya know), but most people love that dark bittersweet taste as well. So this recipe is more for milk chocolate lovers who are yet to find a guaranteed moist cake, that you can then play with and alter to your liking (switching milk chocolate for dark, bittersweet for semi). The other recipe makes use of coffee, and is for dark chocolate lovers. I will come back to update this post with a more articulate description of just how good it is. I'm still eating...be right back...

photo here
Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
adapted from Nigella Lawsons's Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake via Paris Pastry

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons soft unsalted butter (1.5 sticks)
• 3 tablespoons best cocoa
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup buttermilk (which I added for ultramoistness, but eliminate if you like)
  
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Then, using an electric mixer, add the butter.
3. In a wide-mouthed measuring cup, whisk together the cocoa, sour cream, milk, eggs and vanilla, then slowly add this cocoa mixture to the ingredients in the bowl, beating until thoroughly combined.
4. Pour the batter into 2 8-inch pans buttered or lined with parchment or wax paper and bake for about 20-30 minutes. When they’re ready the cakes should be starting to shrink back from the edges of the tins. Leave for 10 minutes in their pans on racks, then turn out to cool.

Icing

• 3 ounces milk chocolate
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• ½ teaspoon hot water

Method:

1. To make the icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water or double broiler.
2. Let cool a little, then stir in the sour cream, vanilla and syrup.
3. Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and a little hot water, blending until smooth.
4. When you’ve got the texture right - thick enough to cover but supple enough to spread, adding more sugar or water as required - you can ice the cakes.