Chocolate Dump-It Cake
- Total Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Ingredients
- 2cups sugar
- 4ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 1stick unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
- 2teaspoons baking soda
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- 1teaspoon salt
- 1cup milk
- 1teaspoon cider vinegar
- 2eggs
- 1teaspoon vanilla
- 1½cups Nestle's semisweet-chocolate chips
- 1½cups sour cream, at room temperature
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
621 calories; 31 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 82 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 57 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 426 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place a baking sheet on the lowest rack to catch any drips as the cake bakes on the middle rack. In a 2- to 3-quart pot, mix together the sugar, unsweetened chocolate, butter and 1 cup of water. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally until all of the ingredients are melted and blended. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vinegar. Grease and flour a 9-inch tube pan (Tip: Be meticulous, and really work the butter and flour into the crevices of the pan. This is a moist cake, so it really needs a well-prepared pan to keep it from sticking).
- Step 3
When the chocolate in the pot has cooled a bit, whisk in the milk mixture and eggs. In several additions, and without overmixing, whisk in the dry ingredients. When the mixture is smooth, add the vanilla and whisk once or twice to blend. Pour the batter into the tube pan and bake on the middle rack until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack. (This can be tricky -- if someone is around to help, enlist him.) Let cool completely.
- Step 4
Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler, then let cool to room temperature. Stir in the sour cream, ¼ cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth.
- Step 5
When the cake is cool, you may frost it as is or cut it in half so that you have 2 layers. There will be extra icing whether you have 1 or 2 layers. My mother always uses it to make flowers on top. She makes a small rosette, or button, then uses toasted slices of almond as the petals, pushing them in around the base of the rosette.
Private Notes
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Comments
For true chocolate lovers, to improve this recipe immensely:
(1) Up the unsweetened chocolate in the cake recipe to 5 ounces and consider using a premium chocolate like Guittard, Scharffen Berger, or Valrhona instead of "any old" chocolate at the grocer's like Baker's or Hershey's.
(2) Similarly, for the icing, substitute premium 60% cocoa butter chocolate chips for the inferior Nestle's semi-sweet chips.
A trick I learned from a French pâtissier: When called to butter and flour a cake pan, replace flour with sugar. It makes for a sweet and slightly crisp outside and helps the cake rise (more to "grab" on to). Never failed me yet.
Instead of using flour to dust the cake pan, dust with unsweetened cocoa powder. Just adds a bit more chocolate!
Swapped coffee for water and the NYT chocolate ganache recipe for a drizzled icing and it was DELICIOUS with vanilla ice cream. Even though I slightly overbaked it at 45 minutes, it was still moist and tasty. The only thing I don't like about this recipe is the vagueness of the timing when your hot ingredients are cooling--makes it difficult to predict how long your cake will take to bake, thus the wide range of baking times in the comments.
I’ve made a lot of very good chocolate cakes, and this one stands out for its flavour, moistness, and simple presentation. Per some wise commenters, I’m glad I used a cup’s worth of americano instead of straight water, and real buttermilk (though can’t say I’d be able to pinpoint that one in a taste test!). I also used 5 oz chocolate in the cake. I did bake it in an angel food cake tin and lined the bottom (underneath the pan-bottom) with parchment about 1/2-1” up the sides, then buttered liberally and dusted w/cocoa. No leakage. I frosted with the milk chocolate ganache one commenter posted and topped with a bit of maldon salt. Delish.
@wildwoods I meant to add, don’t let the title fool you into thinking this is a quick make - there is still a lot of faffing about with the prep, perhaps even more than a typical recipe. But it’s worth it :)
Soooo good and moist. Had to cook for an extra 10 minutes, the cake was still liquid at 35 minutes cook time.