Tantalizing Thursday

Welcome in to Tantalizing Thursday at Chief 187 Chatter. In recent weeks healthy fare has been on the menu; tasty offerings that are healthful, delicious, filling, and rather easy to prepare. Today we are indulging in a dessert that I made over the past weekend. It was a sinful cake that is perfect for this time of year when humid weather wreaks havoc on cakes with icing. This is a bundt cake that is so moist and rich it has no need for frosting. The cake passed the test of my husband, who adores frosting, and my children who are known to eat the icing off of cupcakes and leave the cake behind. This cake is “that good”.

Marbled Sour Cream Cake
Recipe by Sandra Lee from her Semi-Homemade Cooking cookbook
Miramax Books Hyperion New York Copyright 2002

Makes 1 large bundt cake or about 8-10 servings

Nonstick vegetable cooking spray, PAM
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels, Hershey’s
1 package (18.25 ounce) yellow cake mix, Betty Crocker Super Moist
1 cup sour cream
1 cup water
¾ cup vegetable oil, Wesson
¾ cup granulated sugar, C&H
4 eggs

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 55 minutes
Cooling time: 30 minutes

Preparation:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375 degrees.
Spray a 10-inch (12-cup) bundt cake pan with nonstick spray.
Microwave chocolate morsels in a medium microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds on high. Stir to blend.
Continue to microwave until morsels are melted and smooth, about 30 seconds longer. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients.
Using an electric mixer, beat until very well blended, about 2 minutes.
Spoon 2 cups of cake batter into melted chocolate, then mix thoroughly to form chocolate batter.
Spoon chocolate batter and yellow batter alternately into prepared pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer pan to a cooling rack and cool completely, or refrigerate for 30 minutes. Invert cake onto a platter, then carefully remove pan.

Storage and leftovers: Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.


This cake was such a hit with my entire family, including me! Usually I don’t particularly enjoy cake, and I already mentioned my family’s passion for icing. But this cake is so moist, rich, and scrumptious, nobody missed the frosting!

This recipe, as stated, is from Sandra Lee, the popular Food Network chef who has several cookbooks, shows, and spots on various daytime television. She uses the name brands, but I do not all of the time. I use the store brand version of the vegetable cooking spray, sour cream (I used Lite), vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs. I did stay true to the recipe when it called for the Betty Crocker Super Moist cake mix and the Hershey chocolate morsels. I was debating whether to simply use the Nestle chocolate chips I keep in the house permanently, but wanted to try the recipe the way it was intended. Am I glad I did! The Hershey chocolate morsels had a very rich, smooth, chocolaty flavor that I feel has been lacking in the Nestlé’s morsels of late. I believe the Hershey chips made the cake so perfect that I am nearly convinced to dump my stash of Nestlé’s chips and start over with Hershey’s morsels for all of my recipes!

I urge you to try this cake recipe and let me know how you like it. I already have several events I’ll be bringing it to, and would love to know how your friends and family received it. Without frosting, the cake can withstand the higher temperatures and humidity present this time of year. It’s a perfect summertime treat!

Please join me tomorrow as we bid a fond adieu to yet another workweek and embrace the coming weekend with open arms with the Friday Music Blog.