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GayleMO | Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake (Cook's Illustrated 2004) by Michael - tips by Joe |
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Veteran Member 1573 posts Joined: Dec 11, 2005 Options |
Posted to Thread #12 at 5:40 pm on Dec 18, 2005
Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- CAKE RELEASE 1 Tablespoon butter -- melted 1 Tablespoon cocoa CAKE 3/4 Cup natural cocoa -- (2-1/4 ounces) 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate -- chopped 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional) 3/4 Cup boiling water 1 Cup sour cream -- room temperature 1 3/4 Cups unbleached all- -- (8-3/4 ounces) purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 12 Tablespoons unsalted -- (1-1/2 sticks) butter -- room temperature 2 Cups packed light brown sugar -- (14 ounces) 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract 5 large eggs -- room temperature Confectioners' sugar for dusting TANGY WHIPPED CREAM 1 Cup cold heavy cream 1/4 Cup sour cream 1/4 Cup packed light brown sugar 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract LIGHTLY SWEETENED RASPBERRIES 3 Cups fresh raspberries -- gently rinsed and dried 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar -- (1 to 2) FOR THE PAN: Stir together butter and cocoa in small bowl until paste forms; using a pastry brush, coat all interior surfaces of a standard 12-cup Bundt pan. (If mixture becomes too thick to brush on, microwave it for 10 to 20 seconds, or until warm and softened.) Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. FOR THE CAKE: Combine cocoa, chocolate, and espresso powder (if using) in medium heatproof bowl; pour boiling water over and whisk until smooth. Cool to room temperature; then whisk in sour cream. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in second bowl to combine. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, mixing about 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down bowl with rubber spatula after first 2 additions. Reduce to medium-low speed (batter may appear separated); add about one-third of flour mixture and half of chocolate/sour cream mixture and mix until just incorporated, about 10 seconds. Scrape bowl and mix on medium-low until batter is thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan, being careful not to pour batter on sides of pan. Bake until wooden skewer inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto parchment-lined wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 3 hours. Dust with confectioners' sugar, transfer to serving platter, and cut into wedges; serve with Tangy Whipped Cream and raspberries, if desired. Whipped Cream: With electric mixer, beat all ingredients, gradually increasing speed from low to high, until cream forms soft peaks, 1-1/2 to 2 minutes. Raspberries: Gently toss raspberries with sugar, then let stand until berries have released some juice and sugar has dissolved, about 15 minutes. Description: ""Natural (or regular) cocoa gives the cake a fuller, more assertive chocolate flavor than does Dutch-processed cocoa. In addition, Dutch-processed cocoa will result in a compromised rise. The cake can be served with just a dusting of confectioners' sugar but is easily made more impressive with Tangy Whipped Cream and Lightly Sweetened Raspberries (recipes follow). The cake can be made a day in advance; wrap the cooled cake in plastic and store it at room temperature. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving."" Source: "Cook's Illustrated, Jan/Feb 2004, Erika Bruce" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : This is a rather plain Bundt bake; no nuts, no chips, no fruit, just cake. But it is one of the best-textured and most chocolatey cakes I've ever tasted, MILES better than the usual chocolate cake (which, if you close your eyes, you'd have a hard time identifying as chocolate-flavored!). One of the unusual aspects of the recipe is the use of boiling water with the cocoa, which, as the author points out in her notes prior to giving the recipe, "not only disperses the cocoa throughout the batter, but also blooms the flavor." Whatever the chemistry is, it sure seems to work. The recipe also calls for an unusual "release" coating to be brushed inside the Bundt pan before baking (even if the pan's nonstick). If you have a very fancy Bundt pan with a lot of crevices, you may need to make extra of this coating. The cake released beautifully. I ended up baking the cake for slightly longer (about 5 minutes) than the recipe called for before the cake tested clean, but your mileage may vary. The author highly recommends natural, not Dutched, cocoa. Hershey's cocoa (the regular, not the European style) is natural, and I used it with great results. A Dutched cocoa, like Droste's, will usually say, "processed with alkali" or something like that on the ingredients list. Note that the recipe is designed for a 12-cup Bundt pan. I only point that out because so many of the newer, more decorative Bundt pans are 10-cup, so if you're using a 10-cup Bundt pan, you'll want to remove a cup or two of batter before pouring the batter into the pan (if you have some mini-bundt pans or mini-loaf pans, you could probably bake the leftover in those). Lastly, the cake seems to keep marvelously at room temperature for several days, if wrapped or kept under a cake dome. Additional tips by Meryl: Joe, don't forget to save us a few slices! BTW, if you have any leftovers, the slices freeze beautifully, unlike >>>> certain other cakes, which sometimes lose quality after freezing. Another note: I highly recommend using the instant espresso, even though it's listed as optional. As a matter of fact, I used 3x more espresso than indicated, ie, 1 Tbsp instead of the optional 1 tsp. And yet another note: Instead of using a bundt pan, I defied the "rules" and baked it in a 10 x 2 1/2 inch springform pan, (which I later found out is actually 9 3/4 x 2 1/2), buttered and dusted with cocoa powder, about 1 hour, or until a toothpick came out with a few moist crumbs attached. Enjoy the cake! Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God. |
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- 12. Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake (Cook's Illustrated 2004) by Michael - tips by Joe - GayleMO - 5:40pm on 12/18/05 (0)