Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

I made this for my nephew’s birthday, and it’s quite good (...for chocolate cake). 

Chocolate Sour Cream Layer Cake (from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts)
Makes one gorgeous cake

Ingredients

* 3 squares (3 ounces) unsweetened chocolate
* 1/2 cup boiling water
* 2 cups sifted flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 cups butter (use organic)
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
* 3 eggs (use organic, free range if you can get 'em)
* 1 cup sour cream (use organic)

Directions

1. Adjust rack to center of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter two 9 inch round layer cake pans and dust both lightly with fine, dry bread crumbs (though I think flour works just as well if you don't have any breadcrumbs on hand.)

2. In a small heavy saucepan over low heat melt the chocolate with the boiling water. Stir occasionally with a small wire whisk until smooth. Set aside. You can also zap these things together in the microwave for about 30 seconds if you're in a hurry.

3. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In large bowl of electric mixer, cream the butter. Add vanilla, granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat well, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary to keep mixture smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each.

4. Stir sour cream and cooled chocolate together until smooth and add to batter, beating only until mixed. On lowest speed, add the sifted ingredients continuing to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat only until smooth.

5. Turn into prepared pans. With rubber spatula spread tops smooth and then run the batter up on the sides a bit, leaving the batter slightly lower in the centers.

6. Bake 35 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched and layers come away from sides of pans. Cool in pans for about 5 minutes. Place racks over the cakes and invert. Remove pans. Cover with racks and invert again to cool right side up.

For the Icing/Frosting

Ingredients

* 3 squares (3 ounces) unsweetened chocolate)
* 2 Tablespoons butter
* 3/4 cup sour cream
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 pound unsifted confectioners sugar.

Directions

1. In top of small double boiler over hot water on low heat, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until smooth and let cool completely.

2. In small bowl of electric mixer at low speed, beat sour cream, vanilla and salt just to mix. Gradually beat in the sugar, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula. When smooth, add cooled melted chocolate and beat at high speed for 1/2 a minute or until very smooth.

3. Place four strips of wax paper around the edges of a cake plate to protect it while icing cake. (Note, this is one step I skipped - you can always just wipe the frosting off the plate later - it's actually rather enjoyable...)

4. Place one layer upside down. Spread with filling. Cover with second layer, right side up so that both bottom sides meet in the middle (brilliant, Maida!!!) Cover the sides and then the top with remaining filling and icing, smoothing it with a long, narrow, metal spatula; then if you wish use the pack of a teaspoon to form swirls and peaks all over the sides and the top.

5. If you did the wax paper bit in step 3, remove the wax paper by pulling each strip by a narrow end. Needless to say, this goes well with ice cream! I'd say vanilla, coffee or hazelnut are all good bets.

1. I used table salt, APP, and measured the sour cream by weight. I accidentally did not use the boiling water!!! Oh man! Read the recipe wrong somehow. Will need to make this again to retry. Because my biggest complaint was how quickly it dried but in fact it didn’t have enough moisture to begin with!! 

2. Cooked in about 30 minutes. 

3. Made icing but only used 12.5 oz of powdered sugar instead of the whole pound, which was fine for me, I like the tanginess of the sour cream to shine through. I also mixed icing by hand 

4. Frosting it was super easy, would happily make this frosting again 

Orange Date Crumble Muffins

 Made these to use up dates and buttermilk 

Recipe from Martha Stewart 

Ingredients

Muffins

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing (optional) 
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1 cup lowfat buttermilk 
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar 
• Finely grated zest of 1/2 orange 
• 2 large eggs, room temperature 
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans 
• 1/2 cup chopped pitted Medjool dates (about 5)

Crumble

• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 
• 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar 
• Pinch of kosher salt 
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces. 
  
  
  
  

Directions

• Step 1

  Muffins:

  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with baking cups, or lightly brush with butter. In a medium bowl, whisk together oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, brown sugar, orange zest, and eggs. Stir wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Fold in chopped pecans and dates.

• 
  
• Step 2

  Crumble:

  In a small bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt. With your hands, work in butter until large, moist clumps form.

• Step 3

  Divide batter evenly among muffin cups; top with crumble. Bake until golden and tops spring back when lightly touched, about 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes in tin, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

  
  

1. I ended up using 4 dates (measured half a cup when chopped.

2. Used half Sonoma flour and half APP. 

3. Baked for 20 minutes in silicone muffin pan but bottoms were over browned. Would try baking for less time next time. Made a dozen exactly. 

4. I didn’t love it— the oats and the pecans made for a dense muffin and a bit dry. Definitely a “breakfast” muffin. Would try without pecans