I hope you all know of Irene from A Swoonful of Sugar, she's an awesome Australian blogging friend of mine that I've gotten to know this past year. Recently I decided that just because we're on different continents, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to bake together! And seeing as my motivation here has been lacking, I thought that this would be a good way to refresh baking and blogging for me. Irene makes delightful things, and I'm looking forward to doing many more Across the Ocean baking sessions with her!
Speaking of which, check out her take on the cake I picked for our first recipe here. She totally gets creativity points this time! Wowza.
This cake is one I found from Shutterbean, and I actually have a funny/not-so-funny history with it. You see, in the days before I got my beautiful bundt pan, there were some darker hours in which I'd repeatedly get bunked bundts. Meaning whenever I turned over the pan to slide my pretty cake out, half of it would stick, and the result would be a crumbled (but still delicious) mess.
You can imagine my joy when this came out unscathed. It always feels good to go back to a recipe you previously failed on and come out with flying colors. So worth it.
Let's talk about the cake now! The one thing I knew from my previously failed attempt was that this cake was delicioussss. I know so many people hate the word moist, but I don't know how else to put it. So just bear with me. It's moist, has just the right amount of density thanks to the sour cream, it's lightly perfumed with Earl Grey, it's chocolate-y, but no so much that it's too rich for an afternoon tea. And you don't have to love Earl Grey to like this cake, but it helps. The texture itself is worth every bite.
I'm freezing the rest of this baby to enjoy with my sister later, and I'm looking forward to that! Stay tuned for my graduation cake post, I can't wait to share pictures with you! It was a labor of love, as always, but entirely worth it.
Can't wait to see what Irene picks out for our next baking session!
Earl Grey Chocolate Sour Cream Cake
Yield: serves about 10-12
Ingredients:
- 6 Earl Grey tea bags or 2 tablespoons loose Earl Grey tea leaves
- 1 cup hot water (I heated mine in the tea kettle)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted & cooled (I melted mine in a double boiler, but a microwave works too)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8-cup (or more) bundt pan.
Brew the tea in the hot water for 5 minutes. Remove tea bags or strain the leaves and set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Blend in the melted chocolate. Beat in the dry ingredients on low speed until almost combined, then alternately add the tea and sour cream until combined. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs attached. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Turn out of the pan and onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.
Sources: adapted from Shutterbean, originally from Real Simple Magazine
