Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cake

Who do I think I am coming up with a post like this? Smitten Kitchen? Yeah, I wish! Deb's blog (aka Smitten Kitchen) is seriously one of the most fantastic food blogs I've ever come across. And I'm not entirely sure how I stumbled upon it (although I know it was by accident about 6 or 7 months ago), but Kyle sure is thankful that I did - almost as thankful that I've found solice in so many of Giada's recipes. Deb's blog is incredibly well-written and witty, and of course it features some of the most drool-worthy food porn out there in the blog-o-sphere. (Like my attention to jargon there?) You'll be hard-pressed to find a better food blog...at least I've yet to find one (although, Culinary Concoctions by Peabody ranks right up there).

So, yes, I've been reading Smitten Kitchen, almost on a daily basis for a few months now (love Google reader!), and was so excited to read recently that Deb and her beloved blog were being featured in the Boston Globe - pretty big honors for a woman who creates some pretty big food out of her pretty tiny Brooklyn, NY apartment kitchen. It was reading the Globe article online where I found this recipe of Deb's that had been filed away in her blog archives and probably wouldn't have been found had it not been for the article (as much as I love Smitten Kitchen, I just don't have the time to peruse nearly 18 months of blog posts). So after wiping the drool off my keyboard, I printed out the recipe and immediately decided to make this for my parents while I was down to visit them on good 'ol Long Island (actually, not too far from where Smitten Kitchen makes it's home).

I took full advantage of my mom's new double-oven that weekend, but didn't dare ask to use the brand-spankin' new holy grail of kitchen appliances (aka the Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer in Onyx) that I had given her the evening before for her birthday. As much as it killed me to restrain myself from asking to use it, I knew that the only person who should break-in the holy grail is its rightful owner. So I used a hand-mixer - no big deal. :)

It's difficult to explain how incredible this recipe turned out without, again, wiping the drool off my keyboard. The coffee cake was exactly how I hoped it would be - dense and flavorful but not crumbly...and it yielded a bonus of a mouthful of chocolate cinnamon flavor in every bite. Can you really get any better than that?? I have to admit that I made the mistake of not cutting the servings small enough (what???) because this cake really is filling. My cake yielded 24 pieces but 32 or even 36 pieces probably would yielded a more appropriate serving size. But nonetheless, neither I nor my parents (nor Kyle after I brought the leftovers home to him in CT) had any regrets about my making this cake. It's perfect for any occasion - brunch, dessert, or an afternoon coffee break - and I will without a doubt make this again.

Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cake
source: Smitten Kitchen blog

• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 16 ounces sour cream
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  
• 12 ounces chocolate chips (which I tossed lightly in flour before adding to cake to prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom)
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and 1½ cups sugar, then mix in the egg yolks and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda and baking powder together into a separate bowl. Alternately add sour cream and then dry ingredients into butter mixture. Beat eggs whites until stiff, then fold into batter.
3. Mix last ½ cup sugar and cinnamon together in a separate, small dish.
4. In a greased 9″x13″ pan, pour in half of the cake batter. Sprinkle the top with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture and half of the chocolate chips. Pour remaining batter on top, sprinkling the top with the remaining cinnamon-sugar and chocolate chips.
5. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
   

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 40-50 minutes

Yields: 24-36 pieces