Okay chocolate cake lovers, here it is. The cake you’ve been waiting for… a rich, moist, chocolate chip filled cake frosted with smooth, silky chocolate ganache. Ooh, la la! Yes, this is one Darn Good Chocolate Cake. This recipe comes straight out of The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook and it’s been one of my favorites for a long time. Since you start with a chocolate cake mix as the base, it’s very simple, virtually fool-proof, and nice to bake with kids.
If you have a chocoholic in your family, this might just be perfect birthday cake!
Darn Good Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- vegetable spray & flour OR bakers spray for misting the pan
- 1 package (18.25 oz.) devil's food cake mix
- 1 package (3.9 oz.) instant chocolate pudding
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
FOR THE GANACHE
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
Instructions
- Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly mist a Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray and dust with flour (or spray with baking spray). Set pan aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, add the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, warm water, and oil in a large mixing bowl.
- Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Increase the speed to medium and beat 2 to 3 minutes more. The batter will be thick and well combined.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir them in gently.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top with a rubber spatula.
- Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and starts to pull away from the side of the pan, 40 to 50 minutes.
- Remove the pan to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes.
- Run a long, sharp bladed knife around the edge of the cake.
- Invert it onto a rack to cool completely before frosting.
- While the cake is cooling, make the ganache.
- Place the chopped chocolate in a large mixing bowl.
- Heat the cream in a heavy bottomed sauce pan, stirring frequently, until it comes to a boil.
- Immediately remove the boiling cream from the heat and pour over the chocolate.
- Let stand 1 minute, then stir to combine.
- Let stand at room temperature until it is thick enough to work with.
- Frost the cake, using the entire batch of ganache.
- Store frosted cake in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature to serve.
