This Chocolate Sour Cream Cake is a classic rich chocolate cake made extra moist by the addition of sour cream and is one of those recipes that is sure to become a favourite in your household.
My family loves it when they see a classic chocolate cake on my list of baking projects that I’m going to undertake in the following week. But my girls did turn their noses up at the thought of sour cream in a cake mix. “Why on earth would you add that mum?” “Don’t you put sour cream on your mexican dishes instead of in a cake?” Yep, I had all the questions.
Why should you use sour cream in a cake?
- Adding sour cream to you cake batter gives your cake a beautiful moistness. To get technical, the acidity in the cream tenderises the gluten in the flour and gives the cake a super fine crumb texture.
- Due to the acidity in the sour cream, the cake has a slight tang and isn’t as sweet and sickly as other chocolate cakes. It adds a richness to the flavour that is out of this world.
- The moistness allows the cake to stay fresh for a bit longer too…bonus!
HELP … What do I do if I don’t have sour cream available. No problem, just substitute it for greek yogurt which is the same consistency as sour cream and contains that acidic element to prevent an overly sweet cake. Phew, problem solved.
Back to the cake
Yes I could have baked this as one whole cake topped with whipped cream and berries… but I just wanted to create something fun … a show stopper if you like, because, why not?! If you do decide to make this as a whole then you’ll need to use a larger cake pan, for example a 22cm diameter pan would be perfect but you’ll have to bake it for longer, I suggest 35-40 minutes, but check it after 30 minutes.
In my recipe I recommend having three cake pans to split the batter into and bake the sponges at the same time. It’s a quicker method but if you don’t have three like me then don’t worry. Just use the one pan and as per my recipe notes below, bake each of the three cakes one at a time.
By the end you should have three cakes and once you cut them in half you’ll get six halves and that means six layers. Now as I stylist I’ve been trained to work in odd numbers as it’s visually more appealing to the eye, so I defaulted to this and used only five layers for my cake (we ate the sixth whilst decorating the cake!). By all means though add that sixth one one. Definitely don’t let it go to waste. It’s too good for that!!
How to construct this Chocolate Sour Cream Cake
Once the cakes are out of the oven and completely cool then slice them in half. If you baked the sponge in three tins then you’ll be left with 6 half all together.
Dollop a spoonful of whipped cream onto your cake stand and place one half of the sponge cake onto the cake stand. The cream stops the cake from sliding around.
Dollop a couple of heaped tablespoons of whipped cream onto the sponge and level with an offset spatula. Press in blackberries into the cream.
Add a second layer onto the cream. Then repeat the process of layering blackberries, sponge then cream until you have added five or six layers (i did five.
For more delicious berry recipes, check out the following from my blog:
Earl Grey Cupcakes with Blackberry Curd. Recipe found here.
Almond Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream. Recipe found here.
The amazing Sally from Sally’s Baking Addiction does an incredible Blackberry Lavender Cake which is well worth checking out too.
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PinDescription
Moist chocolate sponge cake with the special ingredient of sour cream, layered between freshly whipped cream and juicy blackberries. This is quite the showstopper!
Ingredients
For the cake:
230g (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
200g (1 cup) golden caster sugar
100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
75g (1/2 cup) milk chocolate, chopped and melted
230g (1 3/4 cup) plain flour
60g (3/4 cup) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
240ml (1 cup) sour cream, room temperature
To decorate:
600ml (2 1/2 cups) whipping cream, whipped until soft peaks form
210g (1 1/2 cups) blackberries
45g (1/2 cup) toasted almonds flakes
Mint leaves, to decorate with, optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 180C (350F) and place your oven shelf in the centre. Grease and line with baking paper, three 17cm (7 inch) spring form cake tins.
- Beat the butter in the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (or using your handheld electric whisk) until smooth. Then add the caster sugar and brown sugar and beat for about 5 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until combined between each addition. Ensure that you scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then add the vanilla extract and melted chocolate beating until combined.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl- set aside. Then pour the dry ingredients in and beat until you have a smooth batter, finally add the sour cream and again beat until combined.
- Divide the batter between the three tins and smooth the top with the back of a spoon and bake for 30 mins or until the sponge has risen and is springy to touch. Remove from the oven, cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool slice each cake into half horizontally.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk on high speed the cream until stiff peaks form.
- To assemble the cake, place a small dollop of whipped cream on your cake stand (this prevents the cake from sliding off) and put one of the cake halves on top. Spoon a couple of heaped tablespoons of the cream onto the sponge and smooth flat using an offset spatula. Push in ten or so blackberries dotted around the cream. Place another sponge layer onto of the cream. Repeat this process until your desired number of layers are on the cake and you have finished with a generous layer of cream on the top (I went with five sponge layers).
- To decorate scatter blackberries, flaked almonds and mint leaves all over. Enjoy!
Keywords: layer cake, rustic, afternoon tea
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