| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 4 hr 50 min |
| Active: | 50 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing the pans, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder, sifted, plus 1 tablespoon for dusting the pans
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 1/4 cup simple syrup
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 14 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into thin slices, at room temperature
Instructions
- For the cake: Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans with the 1 tablespoon softened butter, then dust with 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, tapping out any extra. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and remaining 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the sugar and remaining 3 sticks butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the vanilla, then beat in the eggs one at a time. On low speed, add the salt directly to the wet ingredients, then add half of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add the sour cream and mix until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently incorporate the remaining flour mixture with a rubber spatula. Do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread half of the batter in each of the prepared pans. Tap the pans lightly on the counter so that the batter settles. Place the pans on the center rack of the oven and bake until a tester or small knife inserted in the center emerges clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool for at least 30 minutes. Unmold onto a rack. Cool to room temperature, 1 1/2 to 2 hours more.
- Mix together the bourbon and the simple syrup in a bowl. Set aside.
- For the frosting: In a medium pot, bring the heavy cream to a simmer. In a medium oven-safe bowl, combine the chocolate and sugar. Place the bowl on top of the pot with the heavy cream to melt. Once the cream is simmering, pour it over the chocolate mixture and stir until all of the chocolate has melted and you have a glossy ganache. Gently stir in the vanilla, followed by the butter pieces. Set aside to let cool to room temperature. Place in the fridge to chill.
- Transfer the chocolate mixture to the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip the frosting for 1 to 2 minutes to lighten the texture.
- Put the cake layers on a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack. Using a pastry brush, brush about half the bourbon mixture on each cake layer. Frost the top of the bottom layer, then stack the other layer on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 1390 |
| Total Fat | 91 g |
| Saturated Fat | 55 g |
| Carbohydrates | 148 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 10 g |
| Sugar | 119 g |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Cholesterol | 291 mg |
| Sodium | 498 mg |
Reviews
Y’all! This was a disaster. I didn’t think to read the reviews. It’s Alex! One likened the cakes to door stops. Accurate. The frosting never set up for me either. Such a disappointment and no time to make another birthday cake.
I’m not an experienced baker, and it took my HOURS to make this cake! The cake was good, but the fronting didn’t set up as well as I would have liked it to. If I make this again, I may chill the frosting before I whip it. It never developed the body that it did on TV.
I watched the video and followed the recipe exactly, and it is the best dense, moist, chocolate ( really really chocolate) cake I have made or tasted. Everyone in my family loves it. I imbibed it with rum and the simple sugar and you could not taste the alcohol. Typically do not write reviews but was taken aback on the some of the poor reviews where I almost did not make it, but my hubby said to ignore them and I am glad I did.
I was all set to make this chocolate cake bc my oven broke down just before the holidays, and after waiting a month for delivery, I couldn’t wait to fire up the new one. Alex’s chocolate cake looked like the answer. I was all on board with 4 & 1/2 sticks of butter, 6 large eggs (at $4.75 a dozen) almost a pound of bakers chocolate, sour cream, chocolate chips, bourbon and on and on.
Unfortunately, I wound up with the same results of other reviewers. It’s a big dense, dry, loaf. And it pains me to say this, but I’m probably going to toss the majority of it. No I didn’t overmix the batter.
All the wet ingredients were at room temperature. All ingredients were specifically measured, and I sifted the flour and the cocoa powder very carefully because it does create a great “sponge” for your cake. I loved the simple syrup bourbon wash and used it liberally. But this cake was still dry as can be.
I will definitely be keeping the frosting recipe however. That was amazing. While it resembled a typical ganache frosting, it didn’t harden as it cooled. Once it came to room temp, I was able to whisk it to a gorgeous, fluffy and spreadable dark chocolate icing. And again, like other reviewers, it sort of squished out from between the layers when I first put it together. But I let it set in the refrigerator and it was fine. It’s a great frosting without a lot of work. I melted the chocolate over a double boiler and set the heavy cream to a simmer in a separate saucepan. It just worked better for me that way.
But I still like my fudgy chocolate box mix with 3 eggs, vegetable oil and water.
Unfortunately, I wound up with the same results of other reviewers. It’s a big dense, dry, loaf. And it pains me to say this, but I’m probably going to toss the majority of it. No I didn’t overmix the batter.
All the wet ingredients were at room temperature. All ingredients were specifically measured, and I sifted the flour and the cocoa powder very carefully because it does create a great “sponge” for your cake. I loved the simple syrup bourbon wash and used it liberally. But this cake was still dry as can be.
I will definitely be keeping the frosting recipe however. That was amazing. While it resembled a typical ganache frosting, it didn’t harden as it cooled. Once it came to room temp, I was able to whisk it to a gorgeous, fluffy and spreadable dark chocolate icing. And again, like other reviewers, it sort of squished out from between the layers when I first put it together. But I let it set in the refrigerator and it was fine. It’s a great frosting without a lot of work. I melted the chocolate over a double boiler and set the heavy cream to a simmer in a separate saucepan. It just worked better for me that way.
But I still like my fudgy chocolate box mix with 3 eggs, vegetable oil and water.
I read the reviews before I tried this recipe and was almost convinced not to try it. However, thinking I could improve the recipe so that the cake was less dense, i started the process. It was incredibly dense…and rich…..almost too much. And this was before I even tasted it. The weight of the pans told me I also had made a very dense cake just like the previous bakers. I went ahead and made the frosting and this was the game changer for me. The frosting was the best chocolate frosting I had ever tasted. Of course it didn’t help that the written instructions left out the part about putting it in the fridge for a while. It was initially so soupy I thought it would just run off the cake. I reviewed the video of the recipe and put the frosting in the fridge to chill and it made all the difference. That frosting is killer and although it doesn’t totally offset the denseness of the cake it sure helped.
Horrible horrible horrible my first time making homemade cake I made for my Birthday I thought i could trust her cooking skills.cake was very very dry no moisture at all my brownies come out more moist.i think I could of gotten a better recipe from one of those 5 yr old kid chefs.alex stay away from baking !! I just dont think I can trust her cooking again.
I made this cake twice thinking I made a mistake first time around. A very expensive cake to make and very very disappointing!
Tastes great!! BUT- cake was a hot mess- followed the recipe to the letter and I consider myself a decent baker. The cake was really dense and the frosting was so light and fluffy with no body, so it just slid around and squirted out from between the layers when I cut it. I LOVE love Alex but this cake will be a pass.
I love this cake and I’m not sure why folks are getting dense cakes. Some possible reasons include overmixing, too much flour, ingredients not at room temperature, overbaking, wrong sized or too many eggs or b. powder or b. soda has expired. It’s very rich and chocolatey; perhaps cutting the amount of chocolate chips would help. Maybe Alex or the Food Network should jump in to help, because I’m not a chef, just a home baker who’s made a lot of cakes.
Based on the reviews I read, I almost didn’t make it. First of all, it is true that cake comes out dense and bitter. When I tasted only the cake after it was baked, it wasn’t good and I felt like I wasted the expensive ingredients. However, with the whipped ganache frosting, it tasted OK- I think this cake needs exactly this kind of frosting. Very rich and costly to make, but it is very chocolate-y, for those who love chocolate.