I love putting sour cream into cakes. It makes them so moist and delicious, it seems crazy that they are not a staple in all cakes. I know, some of you are going to be cringing at the word moist – but cakes need to be just that. Dry, crumbly cakes are not enjoyable to eat.

This particular cake is an adaptation from Nigella Lawson’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess” and Scientifically Sweet’s One Bowl Sour Cream Chocolate Cake. I’ve added coffee for good measure, as it helps to bring out the chocolate flavours even more than usual.

You don’t have to make this in a Bundt cake tin, you can just use a springform round cake tin if you so like. I’m just having fun playing with my Nordic Ware cake tins and want to get as much out of them as possible.

As we get closer to the end of 2019 it’s hard not to reflect on the past year, and the past decade. So many people focus on the things they had hoped to achieve by this point. Don’t let that kind of thinking bring you down. Think of all the things you have done. Did you travel somewhere new? Did you do something for the first time? Did you eat at an incredible place that you’d been wanting to try? Did you make new friendships? Meet someone you’ve fallen in love with? Did you continue to maintain your current friendships and relationships? Were you a good friend? Did you help someone in some small way? All of these things are important. Remember, every little bit helps, regardless of how small it might seem to you.

Anyway, enough with the philosophical talk. This delicious, moist cake will be a hit at your New Year’s Eve parties. If, like me, you aren’t much of a New Year’s person, bake this cake and take it a friend’s house, or the gym, or work. And the fact that you only need one bowl and a saucepan, plus the cake tin, means there will be very little washing up! I just placed my mixing bowl on my scale, and reset the scale to zero each time I added something. So simple.

Ingredients

85 grams unsalted butter
150 grams 70% cocoa dark chocolate
142 grams plain flour
35 grams cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
200 grams caster sugar
pinch of salt
80 ml skimmed milk
145 grams sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
40 ml coffee, cold
100 grams white chocolate
100 ml double cream
spinkles (optional)

1. Grease and flour your Bundt tin liberally. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a saucepan over a low heat. Stir occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and cocoa powder. Whisk in the salt and caster sugar, until evenly distributed.
4. Add milk, sour cream, eggs and vanilla to the flour mixture. Whisk to combine. Gradually add the coffee and melted chocolate mixture. Continue to whisk until a smooth batter has formed.
5. Pour into your prepared Bundt tin, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out almost clean.
6. eave to cool for 10 – 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Once cool, heat the double cream in a sauce pan until just before boiling. In a small bowl, break white chocolate into pieces and pour the hot cream over the white chocolate. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then stir to combine. Drizzle your white chocolate ganache over the chocolate cake, then decorate with sprinkles (if using).