Monday, February 25, 2013

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake – You Asked For It!

As promised, here’s the recipe for the chocolate cake that was featured in the orange Crème Anglaise video recipe we did a few weeks ago. In case you missed it, here’s what happened: We uploaded a perfectly fine looking custard sauce video, which no one cared about once they saw this gorgeous looking cake.

Not only did the vast majority of the audience lose all interest in the Crème Anglaise, but they also started requesting the cake be shared in video recipe form. And by “request,” I mean they demanded under threat of grievous bodily harm. Well, it worked.

By the way, you can use any pan for this cake, even a cupcake tin, as long as you’re prepared to adjust your baking time. I’d love to give you specific times, but that will depend on the exact size/type of pan. Best to test early and often with the old bamboo skewer, until it comes out clean.

I joked in the intro that if you messed this up, you should never try to bake anything else again. The funny this is, that’s not a joke. You’ll have to try really hard for this not to come out awesome. In fact, the ganache is probably the trickiest part, and all that entails is pouring boiling cream over chopped chocolate and stirring. I hope you give this ridiculously easy and delicious chocolate cake a try soon. Enjoy!

 

Ingredients for 1 Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake:
Recipe from Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1/3 cup high-quality cocoa powder (use the best you can find)
1 cup water
1/2 tsp fine salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the ganache:
4 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped or broken into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
*Bring cream to a boil and immediately pour over chocolate. Wait 1 minute and stir until smooth and glossy.

114 comments:

Flapret said...

So I moved to this new place and my new neighbour doesn't know how to bake. Or at least is too afraid to try. So now we have an agreement: I help her bake (teach basic stuff about tapa-tapa, pinch of cayenne, the merits of using a freakishly small wooden spoon, etc.) and she brings me fresh fruits and vegetables (she is a greengrocer). And if this chocolate bundt recipe does not get her to start taking chances with baking, I really don't know what to do! This recipe is so easy and looks so good - I usually don't comment before actually trying to make it myself, but man! We are so going to bake this bundt tomorrow!

VIP said...

Chef John you read my mind.. i was on your blog last night looking for a chocolate recipe. Thank you. thank you. Now how about an English meat pie for a food wish. i can never figure out how the perfect seasoning.

VIP said...

Thank chef for the chocolate cake. i was on your blog looking for a good recipe. You read my mind. my food wish is a yummy meat pie. thank you

Jeff said...

Flapret...Why ruin a good thing?

Monica said...

The cake is great but the creme Anglais takes the cream & rises to the top.

Unknown said...

If I substitute the sour cream with yoghurt, I should use the full fat sugar free one isn't it?

Chef John said...

Yes, regular plain yogurt is fine!

philogaia said...

You got to say it first but when I saw that picture my first thought was "Man that is one big chocolate doughnut."

Unknown said...

Can I make this without the bundt cake pan? My kitchen lacks such fancy things but I want to make this sooooo much.

Chef John said...

yes! see 3rd paragraph! ;)

Doug said...

At first I wasn't going to add this recipe to my "try this one" list. The problem is that my wife doesn't like cake. Or so she says. However, she loves chocolate. After reading your description I was sold and it's going on to the list. Now to find/make the time to make the cake.

Danbs1217 said...

Hehehe. And what's wrong with being totally distracted by chocolate cake? My office is thrilled every morning after I bake and one or two have caught on to watch your blog for advance warning of treats to come...it's like Pavlov, but I hear no complaints.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the awesome recipe Chef.
Do you typically use the middle rack of the oven for your recipes?

Unknown said...

dont worry, chef john. i wasn't that committed to my diet anyway!

inchrisin said...

Hi John,

You mentioned that butter can be more yellow because of the amount of grass a cow ate. Is yellower butter more desired than whiter butter? For some reason I'm imagining speckled white and yellow corn now. ;)

Unknown said...

You are really chef and i love chocolate recipes so many many thanks for posting this delicious cake recipe.

K.Johnson said...

Chef, this was delicious. My wife loved it and my three children begged for more through little ganache goatees. I made the creme anglais with Kahlua instead, sans the zest, and it was spot on. Thanks for making this look so doable.

P.S. How long will the cream last with the egg? (Not that there's any chance it will be around long enough to go bad.)

Gretchen said...

Wow K.Johnson, Kahlua in the creme anglaise is a great idea! Thanks:-)

Chef John said...

Sorry, no idea how long the CA lasts. Never been around longer than a few days! ;)

Chef John said...

inchrisin, some say yellow is better since the cows has a more natural diet, but that's still being debated.

Unknown said...

Just made it with my son.

On the oven now!

Jules' Diner said...

Fantastic recipe, John! Great for weekday baking and when company's coming and you're short on baking time.

Only thing I changed was ½ cup water & ½ cup of brewed coffee rather than 1 cup water. I also added a dab of instant coffee to the ganache.

Phoned my hubs at work and said, "There is dessert in your future."

Erald said...

This is probably the best chocolate cake i have ever made. It was so moist. Just great and took less than 5 min to put together.

شورا said...

I made it last night and it turned out absolutely fantastic.

Thanks for the recipe.

Christine said...

Hi Chef John
I make a cake very similar to yours. Only I add ..... you guessed it cayenne pepper, about 3/4 tsp.
Actually we were a little surprised you did not add any cayenne in this recipe. ;)
It is a beautiful combination, wonderfully chocolatey and creamy then...wait for it..... a little heat.

Anonymous said...

I'm making this right now. I have to say I tasted the batter. Nice and chocolaty and this is going to be really good.

I did goof though - combined the cocoa powder with dry ingredients. But it worked out anyhow.

And I'm just waiting with baited breath for the chocolate ganache! Yesss!

prpltrmpt said...

Hi Chef John!
Can Dutch-processed cocoa powder be used in this, or would it be better to use natural cocoa powder?
It looks so delicious!!!!!!

Chef John said...

Sorry, but I'm not sure what the differences are! Not much of a baker, and have always used guittards cocoa rouge.

Unknown said...

Awesome recipe!

Today's my moms birthday and I made this cake for her - she was amazed.
The dough is so dense, moist and flavourful, I think you can call this cake also "Brownie Bundt Cake" - I had no sour cream at home, so I used regular cream, it worked fine!

Many thanks to you, Chef John!

Rosy De Freitas said...

Hey, chef, maybe out of line, but I just made your ciabatta bread recipe that turned to be delicious. I'm outlined here just to say you did have a sexy voice when you had that cold!

Roberto said...

Made this cake last night and (like one of your other posters) when you said "combine dry ingredients" I did exactly that. It worked out fine anyway. We can't get sour cream where I live in Italy so I used Greek Yoghourt.

This is a keeper recipe.

Unknown said...

Delicious cake! It stuck to my bundt pan even though I greased it thoroughly. Not sure what I did wrong.

Nzie said...

Having friends over tomorrow so this cake just came out of the oven... I also lack a bundt pan but a spring form seems to be working and I checked back a lot (it took about the same time, maybe a bit longer). I also added a bit of raspberry extract - it's not strong but just a nice hint of it. :-)

Thanks Chef John!

TheProf'sWife said...

So my 5 yr old daughter and I made this into cupcakes-so easy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the cake actually tasted even better the next day! I'm not sure why that is, but I'll take it.

Thanks Chef John!

Unknown said...

Devastated by this recipe - did everything exactly as in the video and when I tried to extract my cake the bottom flipped out and the top stuck to the well sprayed pan. I spatula'd out the top and precariously placed it atop the bottom, then covered my sins with a generous portion of ganache. My daughter and wife loved it, but I know the truth. I am forever exiled to Chef John's baking purgatory - never am I to bake again. Curse you Chef John! Curse you!

Which is a real shame because I've learned more from this awesome chef than any other chef I've had the pleasure of learning from. Secretly I still worship the pans he cooks on.

Henna said...

So, this was my first cake ever. BUT I MISSED UP AND IM NEVER ALLOWED TO BAKE AGAIN D':
I thought we needed to put 1.5 TABLESPOONS Of baking powder, not teaspoons. I put one, then realized my mistake. I took some out....my cake is in the oven right now, I hope it didn't mess up too bad :'(

Jen said...

Ok, I am a baker and love your recipes. This cake however easy it is has got to be the best chocolate cake I have ever had. I added some orange zest and some orange liquor to it frosting instead of making the orange creme anglaise. I do want to try that someday too, but I was in a hurry to eat cake. Oh and I made it last Wednesday, today being 6 full days later we finally finished the last small piece fighting for the last bites. It was still rich and moist. I don't think I will ever make a chocolate cake from box again. Thank you for inspiring me to go scratch.

momo said...

which one is better for substituting the sour cream? reagular cream or plain yougart?? keep up the great work!!!

Chef John said...

Yogurt closer in flavor, but cream closer in richness, so tough call.

Unknown said...

can't wait to try this recipe from yesterday...:) now the cake is in the oven....hope i did the right job ! :P can't wait to eat it!!~~~

Victoria Yam said...

Hi Chef John,

Would it be possible to substitute plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream in this recipe?

Thanks,
Victoria

Anonymous said...

Hi Victoria! Chef John is away on a well deserved vacation and I will be answering the questions meanwhile. Greek yogurt will be a good substitution for sour cream in this recipe. Enjoy the cake!

Unknown said...

Love love love this easy to make bundt cake! I have made it three times and it gets better with each time I make it! Thanks again for sharing your awesome wisdom in the culinary arts!
Capri

Mizu said...

How about the recipe in grams?...

Anonymous said...

I made this last night for my in-laws. Big hit! I heart recipes that don't require hauling out the huge mixer. Thanks!

We just moved into our first house and the oven is...less than desirable. Until we replace it, I only trust flexible recipes in it. This came out perfect!

(As a side-note to others who try this, I felt like there was a bit too much glaze. Next time I'll probably use half to 3/4 of the glaze instead of dumping the whole bowl onto the delicious cake.)

whitterbug23 said...

To start off I used an old (old) angel food cake pan to make this and only sprayed it with oil so when it finally came time to flip I wasn't surprised that the top of my cake broke off into pieces :( still made me sad though. Luckily, this error was quickly remedied when I pried the pieces off of the pan, put them on top of the cake and poured on the glaze. Once the glaze had set, you couldn't tell the difference and the cake stayed together. :)

The first piece I had was good (I made the orange sauce too). It wasn't the best cake I had ever had, but it was still tasty. The next day I had another piece, but mysteriously the cake and creme had become addictingly delicious. Over the next few days the cake and creme became tastier and tastier the more time they waited and the whole cake was devoured. This is very unusual in my house as the last piece or two of dessert always seem to get tossed because no one eats them. We all love desserts, but we only want a little and then we are good for awhile. Not so with this devilish cake and creme concoction! I give you all the thumbs up.

Unknown said...

Hi chef,
I ran out of sour cream and I have no yogurt either, can I use heavy cream instead? If so what would be the exact measurement, would it still be 1/2 cup?

Chef John said...

Cream is fine!

Shannon said...

Chef John,

What size is your bundt pan?

Thanks! I love your recipes!!

Dan said...

Oh my Chef John! iVe been watching and trying your recipes for a while now but Ive never actually commented. But I couldn't not comment today....this cake is AWESOME. Have been looking for THE best chocolate cake recipe for a while, and this it.... Moist, not too sweet, dark chocolate resistant without being too strong in flavour, delicious creamy ganache. Thumbs up....this was really amazing, both in cupcake form and in round cake pans. Thanks Chef John!

Flapret said...

Hi Chef John :)

This cake is so popular I made it 6 times since you posted the recipe and it turns out perfect Every Single Time. The other day I even used it for a peanut butter-chocolate birthday cake. Used a 9-inch springform pan, reduced the temperature a little, increased the baking time (not sure I should have, just to be on the safe side) and again: perfection! The cake came out perfectly level, it was incredibly easy to work with after I chilled the layers in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Mixed peanut butter, cream cheese, some butter and lots of icing sugar for frosting - and it was heavenly! Super decadent, super rich, but oh soooooo tasty! Thank you again for the recipe, I now know it by heart! :)

Gretchen said...

Made this once, gave pieces to new neighbors, my Mom, her neighbors (it was so chocolately, it went a long way), husband, daughter, et al. Have gotten so many requests for more, but it's been too warm here do any baking. Having our last "cold front" and husband suggested this could be the last time using the oven would be tolerable, so will be conducting cake-making marathon tonite and making many happy! Broke down and gave you credit for the recipe, though I was so enjoying the adulation

Soza said...

hi chef john,
I made this cake twice already, it came out realy tasty, but it didnt came out spongy as i tought it whould, after few hours it was realy dense and heavy, when i take it out ot the oven it breaks a llitle and feels like it going to collapse the 2nd time i just gve it 2h to cool down then i got it out, is there something im doing wrong? i used the exact ingredientsn mentioned.

Chef John said...

This is not a spongy cake, and is suppose to be dense. So I'm not sure if you have a problem.

Hot Chocolate Hits said...

I made this cake today, and I have to say, it's the BEST chocolate cake I've ever made. Super moist, super chocolatey. Tastes great spiked with a bit of rum. Thanks chef John, I LOVE your videosand recipes!

Anonymous said...

Hi Chef John!!
I already made this recipe and it came out great everyone said it was perfect i loved it!!!
Today I tried to make it again and all the flour fell over me :'( soo I have to wait until tomorrow to make it :( :(
One question, can it be made just as a vanilla cake?? my mother doesn't eat much chocolate but she loved the texture so I want to make one for her without the cocoa, do you think it would work fine??

Unknown said...

Hi Chef John

I’m having a slight problem with your recipe.

First, I have a gas oven. I followed your recipe to a tee. I baked for it for 50 minutes on 350 F.

The cake was perfect and looked delicious. I let it cool for 15 min and then... disaster!

Half of the cake stuck to the pan even though I grease it. Any idea about what went wrong?

BTW. Even without shape the cake was delicious.

Alex

Chef John said...

It's your pan! They tend to stick in metal, so try to get a silicon one like mine or a non-stick one. Or heavy butter and dust with flour before pouring in batter.

Unknown said...

This cake is fabulous! I made last weekend and all my family loved it!

Salute from Brazil!

Unknown said...

This cake is fabulous! I made it last weekend, and all my family loved it! Definitely, I will do it again!

Salute from Brazil!

Galgarrick said...

AMAZING CAKE... and oh so easy! Made it for Book Club and all the gals loved it... Made it for the office and all the guys went nuts! Made it for my family and they keep asking for another...WOW! Thx Chef John :-)

YourConscience said...

Chef John, I really appreciate the simplicity of this recipe. I usually cook along with a video as I have with this cake. I do have one suggestion though for people that follow the printed recipe. I would add the baking temperature and time to the recipe and also specify that the dark chocolate should not be the unsweetened baking chocolate since it has no sugar and would create a terribly bitter ganache. "a good quality semi-sweet chocolate". My cake is in the oven baking and I had to run to the kitchen to stick my finger in the batter before it started to set to be sure I added the sugar. I would hate baking this and finding out later I omitted the sugar. Now I have a nice fingerprint design in my batter. I know it will be luscious. Thanks for the recipe and video.

agentsking1 said...

Greeting CJ:

Made this bundt cake. was good but dry. I checked internal temp. after 40 min. and it was nearly 200 degrees F. That may be the problem. What should the internal temp. be?

Chef John said...

Sorry, not sure about the internal temp. The time worked perfect for me, and it seems others. Maybe your oven runs hot?

Isabelle said...

I have made this 3 times now and it's always being requested by those who taste it or see the pictures. This is an amazing recipe, thank you so much for sharing it! (making it tomorrow for my younger brother's birthday)

mh said...

Love your recipes, but recently kinda confused between a cake and a cupcake. In most cupcakes (like your red velvet recipe) they call for recipe starts by beating butter and sugar, but this choc sour cream cake also can be a nice cupcake (the just enough moist). So what exactly the difference between a normal cake and a cupcake? Can't we just fix the wet and dry ingredient ratio and use only one recipe (just change the main ingredient to create variety)?

Unknown said...

dear chef John

even with this fail free recipe, I manage to fail. I am in Japan, and we have different measuring system. I did a bit of research of the american system, and even went ahead and bought the american measuring cups. though what i fail was the mistaking the table spoon and teaspoon. I had a big table spoon full of baking soda.. yea. I read the instruction of the baking soda box, and knew i am putting way too much of it. I even read the recipe twice and still fail to misread teaspoon as table spoon.
anyway, I had to get lid of the whole cake as you can imagine. it made my heart ache to do so since the sour cream and butter are kinda expensive in here.
and now, I ignored your advice and I am baking the second cake... this time with 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. Lets hope it will taste like it suppose to be. at least the first cake smelled heavenly and looked gorgeous.

Chef John said...

Good luck!!

Unknown said...

Chef John,
My second cake was success! Thank you for wishing me a luck.
Today, i bake the third one. I used plane soft tofu to reduce the amount of butter to its half. I know it sounds awful to make that kind of change, but it came out moist and soft even when its cold. the taste was almost the same.. bit less buttery of course, but I am happy with it. I think its the advantage to the access of good fresh soft plane tofu living in Japan. I just needed to add little more cocoa powder and coffee instead of water so the richness of the cake won't be lost.
I will have fun with the recipe. thank you Chef John!

*Ayla's Art said...

Wow! That cake really was great! Your recipes are amazing and I always get very gut result. Thank you for sharing with us. Love...
Ayla

Unknown said...

Is the oven on fan forced when you baked this cake? Sorry if I sent in the comment twice haha. :)

Chef John said...

Sorry, not sure what "fan forced" is, as our conventional ovens are just on or off!

~Sixteen Days~ said...

I made this cake, only I used a regular rectangular pan and it was so so so good! I have also made the creme anglaise with the orange souffle before. Too good! Thanks chef John, my cooking and baking has improved immensely.

Unknown said...

Hey chef! :)
Whenever my sister make cakes and brownies they don't turn out right. They either burn on the outside and remain uncooked in the inside or they either collapse in the middle. Is it something to do with the oven or did she do something wrong?
And also when you sprayed it with the non-stick spray, did you flour the bundt pan as well or leave as is?

Chef John said...

Not the oven. Could be cheap thin cookware. No way I can say for sure. And no I didn't flour just sprayed. Enjoy!

Unknown said...

So, I just made this in the form of cupcakes. It made 34 cupcakes (20 minutes at 350F). And instead of sour cream I used cream cheese (because it's what I had) and it was absolutely divine. Best chocolate cake I've made, for sure. Thanks for sharing this recipe Chef John!

PJ said...

This is the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted. Thanks for posting it! I will be making it again and again and again...

olivia calvin said...

Chef John, I would watch your video if you were making boiled squirrel with raisin sauce. I love your dry sense of humor. Don't ever change .

ItasF said...

Awesome cake! I messed up on the ganache (my brain translated chocolate to baking chocolate) but all was well when I poured the orange crème anglaise! It tastes like creamy orange pushup ice cream!

QuantumCake said...

I've tried this recipe, changing just the ganache with an extra fondent one infused with orange zest and matusalem rhum. Pretty amazing as my husband said with his mouth full.

Lisette said...

I've heard that you can substitue butter for unsweatened applesauce. Would this work for this recipe? Trying to reduce the fat out of my diet and 2 sticks of butter seems excessive.

Rafi176 said...

Hey Chef John, I dont have bundt pan. Could I use simple 9-inch baking pan for this? If I could, will the quantity of the ingredients be reduced?

Kathy said...

This will become my go to chocolate cake. So easy to make and densely delicious. I buttered and floured my old heavy bundt pan with flour and cocoa. Only a little piece stuck to the pan, but it was covered with ganache. Thank you for this recipe!

Lucy Baron said...

This morning I made this cake for a post July 4th cookout. I will report back with tales and/or tribulations.

Unknown said...

Is there any way that I can sub the dairy for non dairy ingredients? I am making this for my husband per the recipe but I would like to make it to where I can also enjoy this cake. :-) Any suggestions would be wonderful!

Chef John said...

Sorry, not sure about a non-dairy sub for sour cream!

Unknown said...

I would love to try this.

Utteerna said...

Chef John thank you for this amazing recipe. It was easy to make and turned out great! As you said this is a heavy and dense cake. I would like to make it more often. Is there a way to make this awesome cake, but with lesser calories?, so I can eat more :).

Maybe use less butter? or use milk instead of heavy cream for ganache? I am a rookie at cooking so not sure which ingredients to cut down on but maintain the flavor close to original.

Thanks!

Unknown said...

Nevermind guys, false alarm. Originally I made this cake and I thought the base was tasteless, that I had screwed it up some how and was never allowed to bake again. The second time I made it because I was determined to not be a bad baker, the flavor still left something to be desired because I like full on slap-you in the face chocolate...but I topped it off with Kahlua flavored chocolate ganache and salted caramel sauce from the blog, and everything was alright!

Kallie said...

I just made this cake and it is in the oven! I cannot wait to make the ganache!! Thank You Chef John :) You have reignited my love of
cooking and baking <3
Love your videos and will continue
to watch them all :)

PJ said...

Please tell us the size and brand of bundt pan you used. Mine sticks to the pan.

Unknown said...

Chef John,
I have to say this is fantastic. Shhhh, don't tell my husband but I love you <3 Thanks for sharing all your Chefly knowledge, we love watching your videos and the recipes are fabulous but this one... this one really can't be beat. Keep on keeping on sir!
Rebecca

Unknown said...

Chef John,
Nothing this good should be this easy. I finished baking about 90 minutes ago and tried a slice just now... words can't describe.
People have commented that this cake improves with age. How can that be? How can it get any better? This could be the key to world peace.
I had to sit down a minute and compose myself.
On a technical note, I buttered and floured the hell out of my pan to prevent unmolding disasters. I use a Nordic Ware bundt pan. There's some good videos on the Nordic Ware site or YouTube or Vimeo giving tips on how to avoid wrecking the final product. But even busted to pieces this would still be a lick the plate clean cake. Thank you very large, C.J.

Eva Young said...

Hi Chef John,

I've been following your recipes for almost 2 years now. Absolutely love everything I've made so far, you just simply make cooking easier and so much more fun. I'm currently living in Kazakhstan, and I really wanna make this cake for the upcoming Thanksgiving party. My only problem is that I couldn't find heavy whipping cream here, I can only buy the regular whipping cream. Can it be the substitution for heavy cream? Thanks!

Unknown said...

Hi Chef John,

I'm not sure if I successfully commented earlier. I'm gonna do this again, hope you don't mind.
I wanna make the ganache, but I don't have heavy whipping cream. Can I use regular whipping cream as a substitution? Thanks a lot for your time and wonderful recipes.

E.Y

Chef John said...

It should work the same! Thanks!

Sumithra Kumar said...

Hi Chef John
I love watching your videos! I just wanted to know, is there a substitute for the sour cream in the cake?

Sumithra

Unknown said...

Old recipe in my family is the same but with Mayonnaise. And it is an easy one, great for a kid's first attempt at baking.

Amy said...

This is so easy and delicious. I halved the recipe and baked it in a small load pan. It still took 45-50 min to bake. Yummy even without the ganache. I also love that it is very budget friendly. I already had everything in my pantry. I would think that yogurt would work too if I run out of sour cream next time. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Hi Chef John,

Long time listener, first time caller. I am currently cooling my second chocolate sour cream cake. My cakes don't rise as much as yours do and I am not sure why. In the video yours rise to the top of the pan and mine rise 65% of the way. We use the same style red rubber bunt pan. It is a great recipe but I am worried I am not getting the full impact since it turns out differently than yours.

P.S. I have enjoyed many of your recipes and really appreciate all the thought you place in to your recipes and videos.

Mamabug said...

Subbed soured milk for the sour cream (milk + vinegar), baked in a 9 × 13 as a birthday cake, took ~35 minutes to bake. Great recipe, great flavor. Topped with a chocolate buttercream frosting, everyone liked it. This stuck a little to my pan, but probably my fault since I greased in a hurry. Thanks!

saichah said...

I really love the irony in videos ! You probably had this before, I grew up with the metric system and the cup measurement just don't talk to me. I looked it up but it seems there's one for the US, another one for the UK, something for dry ingredients, specific ones for liquid ingredients. Can I get some help ?

Unknown said...

This recipe is fabulous!I made it in 2 loaf pans and used the cream from a can of coconut milk instead of sour cream.....amazing. thanks chef!

Kang said...

i've made this a million times and it never fails me. thank you!!! if i wanted to make a moist vanilla cake, could i just omit the cocoa and make as is?

Ryan said...

Hello C.J
can I substitute chocolate chips for the cocoa powder? I only have the hot chocolate drink mix or chocolate chips. Which one would work best or I have failed before even starting? I'm so disappointed in myself. What if I omitted the chocolate altogether? And Im really high up in the mountains above 9000ft any tips like reducing soda, increase temp and reduce cook time?

Cheers
Ryan

Unknown said...

I have to warn people!
If you make this cake, and you sure will, be prepared!
You will stop being who you are. You will turn into the one
who bakes "the cake". And it will not stop to be that way.
Once people know you can bake this cake of the gods, you will
have to do it again... and again... and again and again...

Yes, it is that good.

Eva said...

Hi,can you please give me the right proportions in grams ?
Thank you!

Unknown said...

I have tried this recipe and I love everything about it. Every time I make it I always get so many compliments.
Just out of curiosity, would it be possible to make a vanilla Bundt cake if I don't add the unsweetened cocoa and sub it for flour?

Novonia said...

Made this tonight and subbed the 8oz water for a 12oz bottle of Guinness, Success! Of course I added a bit extra flour/sugar/baking_soda to compensate for the extra liquid but man did it turn out awesome! I also made an Italian meringue buttercream (in chocolate) for the icing instead of a ganache since I split the batter into a double layer cake in 9" rounds, 33 min in the same 350 oven.

Unknown said...

Well, turns out you can screw this one up. When you misread and put a one and a half tho of salt instead of a half. I know this one is on me, but chef John could please tell the measures in the video also. Thanks

Unknown said...

I made this. Omg I can’t believe it. It tasted really good. And finished within 2 hours. (My housemates ate it) Lol.

Unknown said...

Every year I'm requested to make this for my daughter's birthday. I like to change it up from adding a vanilla custard to a decadent chocolate ganache filling the middle and the top (volanco like). This cake is a crowd pleaser and I make it more than I can remember.

Scheryl said...

Great recipe, the only thing I would suggest is to put the steps of how to make this as some may not watch the video. I myself had to keep going back to the video to see the next step. Other then that I am awaiting for it to finish up in the oven so I can move on to the chocolate Ganache....

Alyce said...

Chef John.. For the icing.. Csn you use Half n Half instead of the heavy cream? Thank You!! Can’t wait to make this cake!!❤️🙌😋