Geraldine's Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Chunk Bundt Cake

I'm always blogging about my recipes, and experiences with food, but there is another side, or in my case, my better half, and that is my wife Geraldine. Having sustained a relationship for almost 25 years is my proudest accomplishment in life. I see a lot of people in this world who are alone and just as many who are in unhappy relationships and I just thank my lucky stars. I don't even want to think what my little world would be without my wife.

Geri, as she is called by most of her friends, is a great baker, and comes from a lineage of fine bakers, especially her grandmother Elsie who's chocolate cake, made from scratch, could induce a pallet organism every time I ate it, which was often. We had Sunday dinner with Elsie almost ever week, and there was always some chocolate cake to be had. Gram, as Geri called her, was the queen of freeze and thaw. Anyway who's ever done any baking will tell you that sheet cake freezes easily. Gram's, aka the old trout, the old bat, or dust in a dress, chocolate cake was light, delicate yet firm, moist, full of chocolate, and oh so damn good. For someone who never knew his grandparents this was always a special time for me, and food was always front and center at these weekly gatherings.

About a month ago we had a backyard benefit party for my old friend Michael David Evans who lives in England, and is very disabled. Geri and I have been raising money to bring him back to the West Coast. I made pizza, and Geri made the deserts and salad. She made her famous chocolate chip cookies, and a sour cream chocolate chip chunk bundt cake which I couldn't stop eating. People ate so much pizza, I made 12 pies, that they were too full to eat dessert, so I got to scarf down a third of that chunk cake all by myself the next two days after the event.

My back is on the mend, and I should be blogging more in the future. I have also been editing cooking videos from our trip to Paris in April which I hope to get on line before the first of December. We shall see as the blind man once said.

Without further ado.

chocolate

melted chocolate

chocolate, sugars, cinnamon

layer #1

layer #2

In the oven

Geri and Janet

Perfection

Geri's Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Chunk Bundt Cake: (bundt pan needed)

Ingredients: (for the batter)
*2 sticks of unsalted butter
*1 1/2 cups sugar
*3 eggs
*2 cups all purpose flour
*1 tablespoon baking powder
*1 teaspoon baking soda
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1 coup sour cream
*1 teaspoon vanilla
*5 oz. Scharffen Berger 62% Cacao semi-sweet chocolate chopped into 1/4" cubes

For the Strussel Topping
*2 oz. Scharffen Berger 62% Cacao semi-sweet chocolate
*1/4 cup granulated sugar
*1/2 cup brown sugar
*1 teaspoon cinnamon
*1 cup toasted walnuts

Preparation: (for the cake batter)
1) preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2) Grease pan generously, and dust with flour

3) Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy in a kitchen aid using the paddle attachment, add the eggs one at a time, and add the vanilla extract.

4) Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Gradually add the flour mixture with the sour cream, and then fold in the chocolate pieces.  Set aside.

The Strussel:
1) Melt the 2 oz. of chocolate in a double boiler stirring until melted

2) Remove the chocolate from the heat and mix in the toasted walnuts, and then add the sugars and cinnamon.

The Cake:
1) Pour 1/2 the batter in the bundt pan, and add 1/2 the strussel mix.

2) Cover that with the rest of the cake mix, and then top it with the rest of the strussel mix.

3) Bake for 1 hour or until the toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

4) Let it cool on a rack, unmold, and serve warm or at room temperature.

You can't go wrong topping this dessert with some fresh cool whipped cream or ice cream.

A nice 20 year old Tawny Port goes great with this...

Peace,

Make Food/Not War