Triple Chocolate Cake

Lets talk cake.

Perhaps, in your family, or among your circle of friends, there is one person who is better at baking than others. One person whose cakes always seem a little more moist, a little more light.

In my family, that was me.

I bake a good cake. I don’t say this lightly, either. One year, I baked six birthday cakes. Incidentally, my family compromises six people, myself included.

Recently I got to flex my baking skills for a friends birthday. When asked what kind of cake he wanted me to bake, he said “Whatever.” So I grabbed this quick and easy – and so very yummy – cake.

Triple Chocolate Cake

Makes 1 10-inch cake

1 package (18-20 ounces) chocolate cake mix
1 package (3-5 ounces) chocolate instant pudding mix
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 container (8 ounces) sour cream
4 large eggs
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup water
½ cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, chocolate chips, sour cream, eggs, pecans, water, and oil in a large bowl and stir until well blended. Pour batter into a well greased 12-cup Bundt pan.

Bake at 350 for one hour, or until cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool on a wire rack in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on wire rack. Top the cake with a small amount of sifted powdered sugar, melted chocolate sauce, or melted jelly.

Source: The Best of Mr. Food Volume 2 from Oxmoor House, Inc. © 2001

Notes from the Hare

When picking your cake mix, pudding mix, and chips, go with your tastes. If you have real chocoholics that will be sampling the cake, go for something rich on all fronts. Pretty much any combination will work. Similarly, if you don’t like pecans, use chopped almonds, walnuts, peanuts – whatever you prefer. Leave them out if you prefer. Or add more.

For the birthday cake, I melted some strawberry preserves and drizzled them over the cake.