Last night I was faced with the need to clear a few items out of my refrigerator before going out of town for a few days. I had a freshly opened pint of heavy cream and a container of sour cream I was hoping to use up, so I put the search terms "sour cream cake" into the epicurious.com search engine and sifted through the results (I love the Epicurious website for the ability to do searches like this). Bingo, I found a recipe that needed both ingredients, "Fudgy Chocolate Layer Cake with Coffee-Chocolate Frosting." The recipe was apparently requested by a reader who had enjoyed the cake at Watershed Restaurant in Decatur, Georgia.
While the recipe makes two round 9-inch cake layers, I baked it into a single 9" x 13" sheet cake instead, which is much easier to divide into convenient squares to serve to people at my office. If you're going to substitute a different-sized pan than the one specified in a recipe, you should do a quick calculation as to pan volume so that you can adjust the baking times accordingly. First, calculate the area of the bottom of the pan (or pans) specified in the recipe. In this case, the total area of two 9-inch round pans is approximately 127 sq. in. (you do need to flashback to grade school geometry and remember the value of π to figure this out). Then calculate the area of the bottom of the pan (or pans) that you intend to use. In this case, it equaled 117 sq. in. Since the pan I was going to use had a smaller area than the ones specified in the recipe, I knew that the depth of the batter in my pan would be deeper and I should expect that it would take a little longer to bake. (Sometimes the math works out quite neatly; the area of a 9-inch round pan and an 8-inch square pan are equal, so you can substitute between those two pans without any impact on baking times.)
Anyhoo, the recipe produced a very moist and flavorful cake. The frosting component was interesting. The recipe advised that the frosting needs at least three hours to cool and thicken to spreading consistency, so I made the frosting before I made the cake to get a head start on the cooling process. I let the frosting cool for about 4 hours before using it, and it was still slightly runny. I put the cake in the refrigerator overnight to firm up the frosting, and in the morning, it was quite solid, like fudge. However, it was humid and warm today, and by the time I brought the cake into the office, the frosting was very soft (although it did hold its shape and stay on the cake).
Recipe: Fudgy Chocolate Layer Cake With Coffee-Chocolate Frosting from epicurious.com.
While the recipe makes two round 9-inch cake layers, I baked it into a single 9" x 13" sheet cake instead, which is much easier to divide into convenient squares to serve to people at my office. If you're going to substitute a different-sized pan than the one specified in a recipe, you should do a quick calculation as to pan volume so that you can adjust the baking times accordingly. First, calculate the area of the bottom of the pan (or pans) specified in the recipe. In this case, the total area of two 9-inch round pans is approximately 127 sq. in. (you do need to flashback to grade school geometry and remember the value of π to figure this out). Then calculate the area of the bottom of the pan (or pans) that you intend to use. In this case, it equaled 117 sq. in. Since the pan I was going to use had a smaller area than the ones specified in the recipe, I knew that the depth of the batter in my pan would be deeper and I should expect that it would take a little longer to bake. (Sometimes the math works out quite neatly; the area of a 9-inch round pan and an 8-inch square pan are equal, so you can substitute between those two pans without any impact on baking times.)
Anyhoo, the recipe produced a very moist and flavorful cake. The frosting component was interesting. The recipe advised that the frosting needs at least three hours to cool and thicken to spreading consistency, so I made the frosting before I made the cake to get a head start on the cooling process. I let the frosting cool for about 4 hours before using it, and it was still slightly runny. I put the cake in the refrigerator overnight to firm up the frosting, and in the morning, it was quite solid, like fudge. However, it was humid and warm today, and by the time I brought the cake into the office, the frosting was very soft (although it did hold its shape and stay on the cake).
Recipe: Fudgy Chocolate Layer Cake With Coffee-Chocolate Frosting from epicurious.com.
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