Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and white and brown sugars until smooth. Mix in the vegetable oil, and then the vanilla extract and buttermilk.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently whisk until combined. Whisk in the coffee. Pour the batter into the two cake pans (try to distribute it evenly) and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven. Let cakes cool in the tins for an hour, then remove them from the tins and let them cool completely.

Make the frosting. Place the chocolate, butter and honey in a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Take the bowl off the heat, and stir in the sour cream and milk. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the frosting thickens in consistency and is spreadable.

Place one of the cake rounds, domed side up, onto a cake stand or serving plate, and spread a thick layer of frosting over the top. Place the other cake round, domed side down, on top of the frosting. You can cut off the domes to level the cake layers before assembling them if you wish, but I didn’t find this necessary.

Spread the frosting over the top of the cake, then on the sides. It doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth—frosting swirls give this cake a certain appeal. If the frosting becomes too hard, re-heat it over the water bath, and it will soften again.

When you’re ready to serve the cake, make the spun sugar decoration, if desired. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Gently stir over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Let it boil until the sugar turns a golden color. (Once it begins to boil, stop stirring or the sugar might seize and crystallize.) Remove from heat.

Let the sugar cool until it thickens slightly. If you insert a fork into the sugar, it should trail thin threads of sugar as you pull it away.

As you wait for the sugar to cool, grease the handles of 4-5 wooden spoons (chopsticks work as well), and tape them to your kitchen sink (or to a countertop) so that the handles are hanging over the sink (or over a newspaper-covered floor).

Dip the fork into the melted sugar and gently flick it back and forth over the spoon handles, trailing sugar threads over the handles. Repeat until you get the desired amount of spun sugar. (If the sugar become too hard, heat it on the stove again until it softens.)

Carefully remove the sugar from the spoon handles and place on top of the cake. Serve immediately. (The spun sugar will melt in a few hours.)

Adapted from Hummingbird High.