Things we like: A cake to warm up your day

Well, this chocolate cake showed up at the perfect time, 9 a.m. on a cold, wintry Saturday morning. I started baking in my pajamas. The smell of chocolate filled my home. The recipe was old-fashioned but so simple. In less than two hours, a beautiful bundt cake was waiting for me to dive right in.

This continues to be my favorite cake, and I do a lot of baking. The recipe hits all the major high points of what I love in a cake. If you're looking for light and fluffy, this is not for you. But if rich and heavy hits the spot, give it a try. Full of rich fudge flavor, it's not healthy by any means, but if you're going to splurge, it's worth it.

When you are perusing the internet or old cookbooks and see something that you find intriguing, rather than saying to yourself, "Hm, I should make that someday," stop what you are doing and bake it!

Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake

Posted by PJ Hamel in Feb. 2, 2017, on www.kingarthurflour.com

1 cup coffee*

16 tablespoons (1 cup) unsalted butter

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

2 cups (8½ oz.) flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

½ cup sour cream or yogurt (regular or Greek), full-fat preferred

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the coffee, butter and cocoa powder in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Heat, stirring, until the butter melts. Whisk until smooth, then cool for 10 minutes. Combine the dry ingredients. Then mix wet into dry. Mix until thoroughly combined. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and mix again to incorporate any residue. In a separate bowl, whisk together vanilla, eggs and sour cream. Mix into the chocolate batter, beating until thoroughly combined. To prepare the pan: Thoroughly grease a 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan, preferably nonstick. (For a bit of extra flavor and crunch, whisk together 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Pour this into the pan, shaking and turning the pan to thoroughly coat the inside.) Pour the batter into the pan, gently smooth top with a spatula. Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes, until a long toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn pan over onto a cooling rack. After 5 more minutes, lift the pan off the cake to cool.

Icing

⅔ cup chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

¼ cup heavy or whipping cream

Combine chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over medium heat. Heat until the cream starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from the heat, and stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Spoon the icing over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.

Megan Wedel is advertising director of the News Tribune.

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