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!
Servings: 12 People
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.
Notes
1. To Cook 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.
2. Cocoa Powder - For the best flavour & colour, make sure to use Dutch processed cocoa powder in both the cake & frosting. This is available to buy in most supermarkets. If you’re in the UK, I’d recommend Green & Black’s.
3. Chocolate - I like to use a 72% dark chocolate for my chocolate sauce, as I find that it gives it the best flavour/richness. Feel free to use something a bit lighter or darker if you'd prefer.
4. Eggs – You’ll need large eggs for this recipe. Each egg should weigh around 50 grams out of the shell.
5. Baking Tin – I cooked my sponge in a Nordic Ware baking tin, which I’ve linked in the post above. Other tins will work but I’d recommend using a tin that’s 2.5 inches tall.
6. Storage – Both the sponge & chocolate sauce should be stored in the fridge & are best eaten within 3 days.