Cake with your Chocolate

« Best chocolate cake ever.... »

I have a puppy who doesn't often let me relax on the couch in the evening but somehow sleeps contentedly on the kitchen floor if I am baking something, so I have been baking a bit more than usual lately. I was looking for a cooking pan one evening and rediscovered the gothic cathedral Bundt pan I've had for a few years that I'd forgotten about and thought about making a Bundt cake that would appeal to the Finnish dessert palate. I figured I could make the cake for some friends we were having over but I would subject my coworkers to a test cake to see if they liked it as much as I guessed they might. It's funny how so many products in Finland claim 'Authentic American Taste' but how few of them are anywhere near the actual taste and, when given something that really does taste like it does back home, how few Finns really enjoy it. I have learned through trial and error that it is a rare American dessert that appeals to the Finnish palate. The cake is very chocolatey, not overly sweet and the whipped cream and raspberries are a near constant feature in Finnish desserts.

As a disclaimer, I'm not all that crazy about chocolate cakes, but if I had tasted the batter before I poured it all into the pan and shoved it into the oven, I could have easily decided to eat the entire bowl of batter myself instead of having only the spatula to lick the remainder from. I think a couple of people at work went back for a second piece so it's safe to say that it was well received. I made the first cake with kermaviili because I didn't think that Finland really had a true sour cream and kermaviili was reasonably close to the mark. The second cake I made with smetana, which I was told was more like sour cream than kermaviili. Kermaviili is about 10% fat, smetana is about 47% fat and American sour cream is somewhere around 21% fat. Of the two cakes, the kermaviili cake was far better because it was more moist and less rich than the smetana cake. I think this is one of the few occasions where less fat is better than more.

Don't overdo the mixing as it will introduce too much air into the batter and cause the cake to rise more than it should. I used my standing mixer for the first cake and noticed that I really didn't need it save for the creaming of the butter and sugar. The cake release should be used on any pan you use, even if it is the most stick-free teflon on the market. Wrap cake in foil or plastic wrap after cooling for an hour or two if you don't plan to eat it right away to help keep the cake moist.

The Best Chocolate Bundt Cake

Serves: 12 to 14
Special equipment: Bundt or tube pan
Time: about 90 minutes
Source: Cook's Illustrated

Cake Release

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon cocoa

Cake

• 3/4 cup (2.25 oz) or 1,75dl cocoa, natural (not Dutch-processed)
• 6 oz or 170g bittersweet chocolate (2 100g bars of Fazer baking chocolate which leaves a few bits for eating.)
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)
• 3/4 or 1.75dl cup water (boiling)
• 1 cup (8.75 oz) or 2,5dl sour cream (kermaviili not smetana if in Finland), room temperature
• 1.75 cups or 4,25dl unbleached all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 12 tablespoons(1.5 sticks) or 170g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups (14 oz) or 4,75dl light brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 5 large eggs, room temperature
• confectioners' sugar for dusting

FOR THE PAN:

1. Stir together butter and cocoa in small bowl until paste forms; using a pastry brush, coat all interior surfaces of standard 12-cup Bundt pan. (If mixture becomes too thick to brush on, microwave it for 10 to 20 seconds, or until warm and softened.)
2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350F/175C degrees.

FOR THE CAKE:

1. Combine cocoa, chocolate, and espresso powder (if using) in medium heatproof bowl; pour boiling water over and whisk until smooth. Cool to room temperature; then whisk in sour cream.
2. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in second bowl to combine.
3. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Reduce speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, mixing about 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down bowl with rubber spatula after first 2 additions.
5. Reduce to medium-low speed (batter may appear separated); add about one third of flour mixture and half of chocolate/sour cream mixture and mix until just incorporated, about 20 seconds.
6. Scrape bowl and repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining chocolate mixture; add remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated, about 10 seconds.
7. Scrape bowl and mix on medium-low until batter is thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
8. Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan, being careful not to pour batter on sides of pan.
9. Bake until wooden skewer inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes.
10. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto parchment-lined wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 3 hours.
11. Dust with confectioners' sugar, transfer to serving platter, and cut into wedges; serve with Tangy Whipped Cream and raspberries, if desired.

Tangy Whipped Cream

• 1 cup or 2,50dl heavy cream (cold)
• 1/4 cup or ~.60dl sour cream 
• 1/4 cup or ~.60dl packed light brown sugar 
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract 

With electric mixer, beat all ingredients, gradually increasing speed from low to high, until cream forms soft peaks, 1.5 to 2 minutes.

Lightly Sweetened Raspberries

• 3 cups or 7dl fresh raspberries gently rinsed and dried
• 1 - 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 

Gently toss raspberries with sugar, then let stand until berries have released some juice and sugar has dissolved, about 15 minutes.