Page 117 - Chocolate Cake Doctor

C H O C O L A T E P O U N D C A K E S 99

CAKE:
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan R
Flour for dusting the pan
the Cake Mix Doctor says
1 package (18.25 ounces) devil’s food
cake mix with pudding
This cake contains a lot of walnuts
1 ⁄2 cup vegetable oil
simply because that’s how Ella Rita
1 ⁄2 cup sour cream
Helfrich created it. If you want to cut
1 ⁄2 cup water back to 1 ⁄2 cups, that’s fine. Just make
1
4 large eggs sure the nuts are finely chopped so
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract they don’t interfere with the crumb of
the cake. You can do this easily in a
2 cups finely chopped walnuts
food processor, or with a good sharp
Martha’s Chocolate Icing (page 433)
knife and a cutting board.
Pour your favorite chocolate glaze
1. Place the milk in a medium-size sauce - over the cake, or Martha’s Chocolate
pan and whisk in the pudding mix. Cook, Icing as I recommend here. Or just dust
stirring, over medium heat until the mix- it with some confectioners’ sugar and
ture comes to a boil, 4 to 5 minutes. Re move leave it as is. With the pudding inside,
the pan from the heat and stir in the choco - this cake needs little adornment. Note
late chips and butter. Stir until the pud - that I call for regular pudding mix
ding is smooth and thickened and the here, not the instant kind.
chocolate has melted. Set the pan aside.

2. Place a rack in the center of the oven
and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to
mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping
oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the sides down again if needed. The batter
the excess flour. Set the pan aside. should look thick and well combined. Fold
in the walnuts, making sure they are well
3. Place the cake mix, oil, sour cream, distributed throughout the batter.
water, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing
bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low 4. Reserve 2 cups of the batter. Pour the
speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and remaining batter into the prepared pan.
scrape down the sides of the bowl with a Spoon the pudding filling in a ring on