Chocolate Espresso Cake

One of my favorite chocolate cake recipes is from Cake Mix Doctor. Since I had some leftover sour cream, I decided to make this newly invented variation of an old favorite for Adam's work. The standard chocolate cake is very good, but I added the three starred * ingredients to create a salted espresso chocolate cake. 

Ingredients:

1 box devil's food cake mix with pudding (any brand)

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup warm water

2 Tablespoons espresso powder *

2 teaspoon vanilla extract *

1/2 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt *

1.5 cups chocolate chips

Note: You can also add other flavorings like mint extract or almond extract. I've also made an Mounds version by adding coconut to the cake. 

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Combine all ingredients (except chocolate chips) in a mixing bowl
• Mix on low for 1 minute, mix on medium speed for another 3 minutes
• Generously spray a bundt pan with flour/oil spray
• Transfer batter to the bundt pan
• Bake at 350 degrees fro 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

A lot of words on bundt pans:

• Nordic Ware makes really awesome heavy cast iron bundt pans. They last a long time so you only need one. I admittedly own three and I only ever use one at a time.
• Williams-Sonoma and Amazon typically carry a ridiculous selection of these bundt pans for every freakin' occasion. It's a little excessive in my opinion. On the upside, some of the specialty holiday themed bundt pans go on sale pretty frequently so if you don't wan to pay full price, you can probably buy a quality seasonal bundt pan when they go on sale. Today, I used my Buche De Noel log inspired bundt pan called a "Stump De Noel" that I bought on sale for about $10 after X-mas.
• They may say "non stick," but they stick. The key is to liberally spray the pan with a flour/oil spray like Pam. The spray comes out weird looking and foamy, but that's a good thing. Nothing sticks, I mean nothing sticks to the intricate designs of your fab bundt pan with this spray.
• What happens if you don't use this flour/oil spray? Your bundt cake will stick, it may or may not come out and if it does come out, a chuck might rip out. It'll be delicious, but it it'll be ugly. 
• What else happens if you don't use this flour/oil spray? You bundt pan will have lots of cake stuck to all it's little nooks and crannies and it's super annoying to clean those little nooks and crannies. You'll need to use a toothbrush. Trust me, I've been there. You want it to come out clean like this so use the flour/oil spray. 
• Use the flour/oil spray...you'll thank me.