Do you have a memory from childhood that involves food? Chances are you do. Mine involves a favorite cake, a Sour Cream Chocolate Cake and my grandmother. This was her answer to a bad day or a shared joy. We would scarf down slice after slice and when the cake got a bit dry we would stuff it in a glass and pour milk over it and eat it with a spoon. Yes it was that good.
Over the past few years (with this ecconomy) I have needed a slice of sour cream chocolate cake. Some solice, some reminder that money issuses are transiant in nautre and what goes down will eventually come back up. But every once in a while you just need to tast that silver lining.
I have long since lost or thought I lost the recipe but this morning it was like my Grandmother came into the room, tapped me on the shoulder and sliped it into my hand. I had been reading a recipe book and getting some ideas for different ways to make some bread when the thought of the chocolate cake came to my mind. I put the recipe book that I was currently reading down in my chair got up and walked into my kitchen and pulled out my edition of "A Taste of Georgia" thumbed exactly to page 107 and there it was "Sour Cream Chocolate Cake" I read it over and OMG it was the recipe. So here you are a taste of my silver lining, a little reassurance that things will and are getting better. This is good for skint knees, tears, breakups, and just the all round blues. It will make a good time better so serve it often and with a glass of cold milk.
Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons soda
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, melter and cooled
(I substituted 3/4 cups Hershey's cocoa here )
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 reaspoon slat
1 cup boiling water.
Cake: Combine sour cream and soda. Let stand. Cream butter and sugar, Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after addition. Add cooled Chocolate and vanilla extract: (here if you substitued the powered coco you will want to just add the vanilla and mix the powered coco in with the flour and salt mixture) Add the sour cream and soda mixture. Combine flour and slat: add flour mixture alternately with boiling water. Bake at 325 for 1 hour (I would start checking it after 45 minutes just to ensure not over baking.) Pour in 2 greased and floured cake pan. After baking cool for 10 minutes on a wet towel (this prevents sticking) then remove from pans and cool on cake rack.
Frosting
1 (6 oz ) pag semi-sweet chocolate chips ( again you can substitue 2/3 Hershey's cocoa.
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar (more if needed)
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
Stir in cocoa to melted butter and then alternated add powdered sugar and milk beating to spreading consistency.
