Chocolate Fudge Sour Cream Bundt Cake

One year. I've been writing this blog for one year, which means I've been in Des Moines for one year, which means the farm has been gone for two years, which means I've been counting the time since the farm the way people count time after a loss, which is what it is, even if nobody died. A farm can die. A way of life can die. A kitchen can die when the hands that built it stop reaching for the same cabinets in the dark.

I thought about quitting this week. Not the blog — cooking. Just for a day. Just for one day, I thought: what if I didn't cook? What if I ordered pizza and let the canning jars sit on the shelf and didn't make Thursday hotdish and didn't think about Marlene's recipes and just let it all go for twenty-four hours? And then I thought: Weber women don't let go. They carry. They endure. They plant. And I made the hotdish and it was fine and I felt fine making it and that was the end of the crisis, such as it was.

Kevin took me out for our anniversary dinner — twelve years married, which in Iowa years is practically a silver anniversary because we count differently here. We went to a steakhouse in West Des Moines. I ordered the ribeye. He ordered the same. We ate steak and talked about the kids and the house and the future and at no point did we talk about our feelings because we are Midwesterners and feelings are expressed through food and proximity, not words. He paid. I let him. He held the door. I let him do that too. Twelve years of a good man holding doors. That's a love story.

Jack's garden is planned for spring break. He has the layout finalized: tomatoes along the south fence, green beans in raised rows, sunflowers in the back corner, and yes — sweet corn. Four rows of Bodacious, planted from seed that Dad sent in the mail. Kevin has been told. Kevin said, "In the backyard?" I said, "It's corn, not a rollercoaster." He said, "How tall does corn get?" I said, "Taller than you." He went quiet. The corn is happening.

I made a chocolate cake for our anniversary. Marlene's recipe — dark chocolate, buttermilk, coffee in the batter (it deepens the chocolate flavor, and no, you can't taste the coffee). Frosted with a simple chocolate buttercream. Kevin ate two pieces. I ate one. I took a photo of the cake. Blurry, as always. But the chocolate is right and the year is done and we're still here. Still cooking. Still planting. Still going.

The cake I made for our anniversary wasn’t the cake in the recipe section — that one came later, a bundt instead of layers, sour cream where the buttermilk was, a little richer and a little more forgiving. Marlene’s recipe got me thinking about what makes a chocolate cake actually worth making, and I ended up in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon reworking it from memory into something that felt more like mine. Twelve years, one good man, and a cake that came out of the pan in one piece — some weeks that’s everything. Here’s how I made it.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Servings: 12

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (dark)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup full-fat sour cream, room temperature
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled (deepens the chocolate — you won’t taste it)
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 oz bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), melted and cooled
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
3–4 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Prepare the pan. Preheat oven to 325°F. Generously grease a 12-cup bundt pan with butter and dust with cocoa powder, tapping out any excess. Set aside.
Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until fully combined. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar together for 3–4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed.
Add eggs and melted chocolate. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the melted bittersweet chocolate and vanilla extract until smooth.
Combine wet and dry. With the mixer on low, alternately add the flour mixture and the sour cream in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix just until combined — do not overmix. Stir in the brewed coffee and buttermilk until the batter is smooth and glossy.
Bake. Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake on the center rack for 50–58 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out with just a few moist crumbs. The top will feel set and spring back lightly when pressed.
Cool completely. Let the cake rest in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then invert onto the rack. Allow to cool fully before frosting — at least 1 hour.
Make the buttercream. Beat the softened butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Sift in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder and mix on low until incorporated. Add the vanilla, a pinch of salt, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes until smooth and spreadable, adding the remaining tablespoon of cream as needed for consistency.
Frost and serve. Spoon the chocolate buttercream over the cooled cake, letting it drape naturally down the sides. Slice and serve. Take a photo. It’s okay if it’s blurry.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chocolate Fudge Sour Cream Bundt Cake — Marlene’s Anniversary Cake, Carried Forward