Darn Good Chocolate Cake

I love cooking from scratch. I am always amazed at how just a few basic ingredients in the right proportions comes out so much better than packaged convenience foods. However, I have one recipe I have yet to be able to duplicate from scratch. Not that I’ve really tried that hard. I can’t figure out how to substitute the instant pudding, so, for now, I’ll continue using the convenient box mix. But oh, how my family loves this cake! It’s rich. It’s chocolate-y. It’s just plain yummy! I only make about three or four of these cakes in a year, so I guess we’ll be alright with the convenient box mixes. However, if you have any suggestions for good substitutions, please, let me know!

Darn Good Chocolate Cake

Shortening

Flour or Cocoa Powder

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil’s food, dark chocolate fudge, or mocha cake mix

1 package (3.9 ounces) chocolate instant pudding mix

4 large eggs

1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

½ cup warm water

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cups semisweet chocolate chips, mini chips, or chunks

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Lightly grease a 12-cup Bundt or tube pan with vegetable oil, then dust with flour or cocoa powder. Shake out excess. Set pan aside.

Place 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 one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat 2 to 3 minutes more on medium speed, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well-combined.

Fold in the chocolate chips, making sure they are well distributed throughout the batter. Pour batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula.

Bake at 350°F for 45 to 50 minutes. The cake will spring back when lightly pressed with your finger and just start to pull away from the sides of the pan when it’s done.

Cool on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert in onto the rack to cool completely, 20 minutes more. Or invert it onto a serving platter to slice and serve while still warm.

The cake is nice and rich and really doesn’t need any frosting or glaze at all. If you want to make it pretty for serving though, try dusting with a little powdered sugar just before serving.

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