This is a great chocolate cake recipe, that makes very moist, chocolatey cake, all without making much of a mess (all ingredients are mixed in one saucepan on the stove). The cake is a consistency that makes it ideal for cake sculptures.
The batter is mixed entirely in one sauce pan. This recipe makes enough for one 9x15 pan or 2 8x8 pans.
Melt in sauce pan on low heat, stirring continuously:
4 tbsp butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
Add on burner:
1 cup milk
Maintain low heat, stir until it thickens a bit.
Take off burner. Add in order:
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
2 egg yolks
Stir, then add:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
When mixed, add
1 cup milk
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes (until a wooden toothpick, inserted into the center of the cake, comes out relatively clean).
I prefer this cake as a two-layer cake with a sour cream icing in the middle, and whipped cream on the outside. This is a good combination, as the whipped cream isn't too heavy.
The sour cream icing can be made melting 6 oz of semisweet chocolate. After it is melted, stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream.
Any sculpting should be done after cake is layered, but before the outer icing is applied. Whipped cream can very easily be colored using food coloring, allowing one to decorate colorful cake sculptures