Have Your Cake And Eat It Too

With today being my future-sis-in-law's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY!) I thought this was a perfect time to post the recipe for chocolate cake that I mentioned a couple weeks ago. I came across this recipe in The Gastronomy of Marriage and my eyes lit up when I saw that it called for sour cream. That and the way author, Michelle Maisto, wrote about it made my mouth water--I knew it was a must try!

Easy Double-layer Chocolate Cake

FOR THE CAKE:

1 box devils food cake, with chocolate pudding in the batter; or, short of that, add a box of instant chocolate pudding to the cake mix

1 cup whole-fat sour cream

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

FOR THE FROSTING:

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1.5 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 tbls sour cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-size bowl, combine all the cake ingredients and mix them well with a hand beater or spatula. Then pour the batter into two 9-inch greased cake pans and bake for 28 to 32 minutes, or until exactly the moment a toothpick comes out clean and the cakes have slightly pulled away from the sides of the pan.

For the frosting, mix the butter and cocoa until smooth. Add the confectioners' sugar and sour cream a little at a time, alternating between the two and blending on low speed. Add the vanilla last, and beat for one minute. Frost tops of cakes and stack (double the frosting recipe if you want to frost the entire cake)

The frosted cake can sit for a day on a covered cake stand at room temperature, but I'd store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

I served this for some friends after dinner. Even the non-chocolate lovers were asking for take-home boxes!

{photo source: Divine Chocolate and Rebecca Thuss}