This recipe produces a very nicely moist chocolate cake with rich chocolate flavor. Perfect when your main requirement for a cake is that it should be “chocolate flavored.”

Ingredients:

  • 240 grams flour
  • 125 grams sugar
  • 9 grams baking soda
  • 28 grams cocoa powder
  • 227 grams salted butter
  • 227 grams (1 cup) water
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 113 grams yogurt1

Preparation:

  • mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a large bowl
  • mix the butter and boiling hot water in a bowl until dissolved2
  • add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients
  • add the eggs and vanilla extract
  • add the yogurt and mix well

Cooking:

  • bake at 350°F (180°C) for 50 minutes in a buttered pan3
  • let cool before serving
  • you can optionally make a quick ganache4 to pour over the cooled cake for added textural contrast

Credits:

This is my take on Chef John’s Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake, mostly cutting the sugar in half.

  1. The original recipe used sour cream, which you can substitute if you have it on hand for a slightly tangier flavor. ↩︎

  2. The original recipe mixed the cocoa powder with the water and butter over heat (as if making a sort of hot cocoa). I went with this faster option, you could also warm the butter and water in a microwave. ↩︎

  3. A bundt pan will make it look much fancier, but you will need to generously butter it to prevent sticking. ↩︎

  4. Here, a mix of melted chocolate and water (or milk). ↩︎