Sour Cream Chocolate Cake With Dark Chocolate Sauce
A rich & fluffy sour cream chocolate cake covered in fudgy dark chocolate sauce & topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The ultimate comfort food for chocolate lovers!
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Here, a rich chocolate sponge cake is served with an intense dark chocolate sauce & a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is the ultimate comforting dessert & it’s perfect for chocolate lovers!
The great thing about this dessert is that there’s only 2 components that we need to make & they can both be prepared ahead of time, stored in the fridge then reheated in the microwave to serve. The chocolate sponge is baked as a deep traybake & the chocolate sauce only takes 5 minutes to make. It’s the perfect combination of a soft & fluffy sponge and a simple, sweet dessert sauce.
A soft & fluffy sponge cake, served with a rich, sweet sauce & a scoop of ice cream is quickly becoming my favourite style of dessert to make! Not only are they super easy to make but they’re also incredibly delicious & perfect for sharing. They’re a guaranteed crowd pleaser! If this sounds like something you’d be into, you should check out my pumpkin spice sticky toffee pudding with rum caramel or my banana sticky toffee pudding with miso caramel!
For more pudding inspiration, check out our ever growing collection of dessert recipes! There’s a wide range of desserts here, from classic crumbles, pies, homemade ice creams & lots more…
Ingredient Notes
- Cocoa Powder – To give the chocolate cake a richer, less bitter chocolate flavour & a darker colour, we’re using Dutch processed cocoa powder in the batter. This is available in most supermarkets. If you’re in the UK, I’d recommend using Green & Black’s.
- Sour Cream – Adding sour cream to chocolate cake batter adds extra fat, which gives the cake a softer, moister crumb. It also adds a subtle tangy flavour, which cuts through the richness from the chocolate.
- Chocolate – We’re using dark chocolate for the chocolate sauce. A good quality bar of chocolate is best, with a cocoa content of around 72%.
- Oil – We’re using a neutral vegetable oil as the fat in the chocolate cake (instead of butter) as it gives the sponge a soft, tender & moist crumb and texture.
- Eggs – You’ll need large eggs for the chocolate cake batter. Each egg should roughly weigh 50 grams, out of the shell.
- Flour – This chocolate cake batter is made with plain flour then we’re adding in baking powder & bicarbonate of soda, as the raising agents. I find that this gives the chocolate cake the optimum amount of rise compared to just using self raising flour.
- Sugar – We’re using dark brown sugar & caster sugar for the cake batter, for the perfect balance of flavour & texture. Dark brown sugar gives chocolate cake a rich flavour & soft crumb and caster sugar adds sweetness to chocolate cake and gives it a tender crumb.
- Golden Syrup – Used to add sweetness to the chocolate sauce & to give it a glossy finish. Corn syrup can also be used, if you can’t get any golden syrup.
Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
This chocolate cake is baked traybake style, in a deep tin so you get a good slab of it! The batter is simply whisked together by hand & it uses sour cream, which gives the cake a softer, moister crumb & a subtle tanginess which cuts through the richness from the chocolate.
The batter for this chocolate is incredibly simple to make! First we bloom cocoa powder with boiling water & a small amount of instant coffee. Then we place all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl (flour, sugar, salt, raising agents, etc.) then add in the wet ingredients (eggs, sour cream, oil) & the bloomed cocoa then whisk to combine. That’s it!
The bicarb in the cake batter will start to react as soon as it’s mixed in, so it’s key to get the batter into a lined tin then into the oven as soon as possible, for the optimum amount of rise!
Blooming cocoa releases more flavour into the cake batter & also helps incorporate it in more evenly & without any dry spots.
Dark Chocolate Sauce
Here’s a rich, fudgy chocolate sauce that’s the perfect consistency for pouring over a thick slice of chocolate cake! It’s not too thick, not too thin, has a smooth, glossy texture & an insanely chocolatey flavour.
This stuff couldn’t be easier to make! Simply add double cream into a saucepan, along with milk, golden syrup (or corn syrup), cocoa powder & sea salt then set over a low heat & warm until steaming hot (but not boiling!). Next, we take the pan off the heat then add in chopped dark chocolate & butter, leave to sit for 1 minute then whisk to combine into a smooth sauce.
How To Serve Chocolate Cake & Chocolate Sauce
The best way to serve chocolate cake is with warm chocolate sauce & a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of cold pouring cream. But before serving, we need to reheat the chocolate cake & the chocolate sauce.
The way that I like to reheat the sponge & sauce, is to place a piece of the cake into a bowl, top with a good spoonful of chocolate sauce then microwave for 30 seconds or so, until hot. Alternatively, microwave several pieces of cake on a plate & warm a pan of chocolate sauce up over a low heat. Transfer the warm cake to bowls then pour warm chocolate sauce over the top.
Frequently Asked Questions
To cook chocolate cake & chocolate sauce in an Aga, bake the chocolate sponge on a grid shelf placed on the floor of the baking oven. Cook the chocolate sauce on the simmering plate.
No, corn syrup & golden syrup are not the same thing but they can be used interchangeably. Corn syrup is made from cornstarch whereas golden syrup is an invert sugar made from sugar cane. Corn syrup has a mild flavour and golden syrup has a buttery, caramel like flavour and is a bit sweeter.
Chocolate cake & chocolate sauce should be stored in the fridge & is best eaten within 3 days. Make sure to store both in an airtight container.
A good quality bar of dark chocolate is best for chocolate sauce. I like to use a 72% dark chocolate but feel free to use something a bit lighter or darker if you’d prefer.
Although you could use regular cocoa powder for this chocolate cake, I would recommend using Dutch processed cocoa powder, as this will give the cake the best flavour & colour.
Equipment Used
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More Dessert Recipes To Try!
- Pumpkin Spice Sticky Toffee Pudding With Rum Caramel
- Roasted Cherry Stracciatella Ice Cream
- Dark Chocolate Mousse
- Classic Cherry Pie
- Vanilla Panna Cotta & Roasted Strawberries
- Amaretto Tiramisu
Watch How To Make This Chocolate Cake Dessert
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Sour Cream Chocolate Cake With Dark Chocolate Sauce
Equipment
- 9" x 13" Baking Tin
- Mixing Bowl
- Large Saucepan
- Sieve
Ingredients
Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
- 100 g Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder (See Notes)
- 2 tsp Instant Coffee
- 200 g Boiling Water
- 350 g Plain Flour
- 275 g Caster Sugar
- 200 g Dark Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Table Salt
- ¾ tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
- 275 g Sour Cream (At Room Temperature)
- 175 g Vegetable Oil
- 4 Large Eggs (See Notes)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Dark Chocolate Sauce
- 300 g Dark Chocolate (72% Is Best!)
- 400 g Double Cream
- 300 g Whole Milk
- 75 g Golden Syrup
- 25 g Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
- ¼ tsp Sea Salt
- 50 g Unsalted Butter
To Serve
- Vanilla Ice Cream
Instructions
Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
- Preheat an oven to 170°c/150°c fan (338°f/302°f).
- Grease & line a 9" x 13" baking tin with baking parchment then set to one side.
- Add the cocoa powder & instant coffee into a mixing bowl then pour over the boiling water & whisk to combine. Set this to one side, to let the cocoa bloom whilst we mix the rest of the batter.
- Next, add the plain flour into a large mixing bowl with both of the sugars, baking powder, table salt & the bicarbonate of soda then whisk to combine.
- Add the sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs into a jug, whisk to combine then add to the flour, along with the cocoa & water mix.
- Whisk everything together until combined & smooth then immediately pour the batter into the lined baking tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes – 1 hour, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.The bicarb will start to react as soon as the batter is mixed, so it's important to get it into the oven as soon as possible!
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, place the tin onto a wire cooling rack & let the cake cool completely, still in the tin. Once cool, cut the cake into 12 pieces.
Dark Chocolate Sauce
- Roughly chop the dark chocolate, into small pieces then set to one side.
- Next, add the cream, milk, golden syrup, cocoa powder & salt into a saucepan, set over a medium-low heat then cook, stirring regularly until the cream is steaming hot. But don't let it boil!
- Once hot, take the pan off the heat then add in the chopped chocolate & the butter. Leave to stand for 1 minute then whisk to incorporate into a smooth sauce.
- Serve straight away or store in the fridge until needed.
To Serve
- Place a portion of chocolate cake into a bowl then microwave for 30 seconds or so, until warm then top with a scoop of ice cream & a generous amount of warm chocolate sauce.If you've chilled your chocolate sauce, top the cake with a tablespoon of sauce before microwaving then heat them both up together. Or warm the sauce back up in a saucepan, over a low heat.
