This is one of my favorite chocolate cakes. It is rich and complex from the chocolate and brown sugar and moist from the sour cream. The cake also has a good crumb texture. This is achieved by coating the flour in the fatty ingredients before adding the water. Mixing the ingredients this way "laminates" the flour and inhibits the formation of starch grains, which come about when flour and water mix.
The proportions provided make quite a small cake - about eight well-appointed slices. This is great as it doesn't leave a lot of cake lying around going stale. It also means you can double the proportions pretty easily without making a cake the size of Texas. If doubling the recipe, bake it in two equally-sized cake tins and then layer them together with frosting after un-molding. If you would rather bake one big cake, find a huge cake tin and extend the baking time by about 15-20 minutes.
3
oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped (a bread knife works well) or 1/2 cup cocoa powder1 1/2
cups flour1
tsp baking soda1/3
tsp salt1 1/2
cups (9 oz) packed light brown sugar2
oz unsalted butter (3 oz if using cocoa powder), at room temperature2
large eggs1/2
cup sour cream or plain yogurt1
tsp vanilla2/3
cup water (3/4 cup if using cocoa powder)
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat to 350°F. Line the bottom of a 9" x 2" cake pan with wax paper.
Add the chocolate to a bowl large enough to mix all the ingredients. Find a pot big enough for the bowl to sit on, where the bottom of the bowl will fall at least two inches above the bottom of the pot. Fill the pot with an inch of water and place over medium heat. Bring the water to a boil and turn the heat down to low so that the water is barely simmering.
Sit the bowl on top of the pot and add the chocolate allowing it to melt. Stir occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
While the chocolate is melting, sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a smaller bowl and set aside.
Add the brown sugar and the butter to the melted chocolate. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, mix on the lowest speed to make a thick batter. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between additions. Finally, add the sour cream and vanilla. Increase the speed to high and beat for two minutes to incorporate some air into the mixture.
Fold in the dry ingredients until they are just incorporated. Add the water and continue mixing, again until just incorporated. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly around.
Bake until the top springs back when pressed lightly at the center and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes.
Transfer the cake to a wire cooling rack and cool for five to ten minutes. Run a knife around the inside of the pan to release the cake from the sides. Invert onto the rack and remove the pan. Carefully peel of the wax paper. Cool completely.
Due to it's moist richness, the cake is good served on its own, or covered in a calorific layer of chocolate frosting. Either way it's delicious.
If you only have semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, that will work just fine. However add 1/4 - 1/3 cup cocoa powder as well to make up for the lack of dense chocolate flavor that unsweetened chocolate packs.
When choosing a cocoa powder, choose one that is dutch processed and dark in color. It should be the color of dark chocolate rather than chocolate milk. If you find yourself in the unfortunate circumstance of having only the pale insipid kind, go to the store and buy something stronger before proceeding. You won't regret it.