Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup strong piping hot coffee
• 1 batch chocolate or cream cheese frosting

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 300 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 cake pan with butter, dust it with flour, and put it aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda together. Add the kosher salt and give it a good whisk.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sour cream, canola oil, and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth, creamy, and fully blended.
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, then work it together with a sturdy spatula. At this point, the batter will be very thick, almost like frosting.
5. Add the piping hot coffee. It will look a little wild for a minute, like muddy little islands floating around, but just keep stirring until the liquid disappears into the batter and everything is evenly combined.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Slide it into the oven and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a baking rack to cool. After about 30 minutes, spread the frosting over the top.
8. Cut and serve the cake right from the pan, very 1983, ideally with all the casual confidence of someone wearing knee-high tube socks with a yellow stripe. Aw, yeah.