Chocolate Sour Cream Cake (Doctored Cake Mix)
Oh how I love this Chocolate Sour Cream Cake (doctored cake mix) recipe! It is super easy, amazingly moist, and delicious! Nobody would guess that it started with a cake mix!
This decadent Chocolate Sour Cream Cake has a slightly dense and velvety texture which I absolutely love. This is probably why it tastes and looks so much like a scratch chocolate cake recipe. (By the way, you can find two of our favorite scratch chocolate cakes linked below!)
If you've been searching for the perfect doctored cake mix recipe for Chocolate Cake, you just cannot top this one! I've made it countless times and it always gets rave reviews!
This decadent Chocolate Sour Cream Cake not only tastes amazing, but it is versatile also. It has a nice density for holding up to fondant, and can even be used for designs that call for light carving.
Chocolate cupcakes can be made from this recipe also, but if you are looking for a fluffier cupcake with more of a dome, I highly recommend our other tried and true Doctored Chocolate Cake recipe.
Enjoy this Chocolate Sour Cream Cake recipe, I think you'll come back to it again and again!
Chocolate Sour Cream Cake- Doctored Mix
Nobody would believe that this decadent chocolate cake all starts with a simple mix!
Ingredients
- ** For a deeper chocolate taste you can add 1 tablespoon cocoa powder and replace the water with 1 cup hot strong brewed or instant coffee.
- 1 Devil's Food Cake Mix ( I sift the cake mix, but it is optional)
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup water (We usually replace the water with 1 cup of hot brewed or instant coffee, it enhances the chocolate flavor.)
- 3 whole eggs
- 2 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup (108g) vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir or whisk to blend. In your mixing bowl, combine sour cream, oil, water, eggs, & flavorings. Add about ½ of the dry ingredients and blend together, then add the rest of the dry ingredients & mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Pour into three 8 x 2 inch round pans that have been greased and floured. Bake at 325 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until the middle of cake springs back when touched or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- *This also works well for cupcakes! Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the pan immediately and cool on a baking rack.
Looking for a Scratch Version of Chocolate Sour Cream Cake?
Guess what? We have a fantastic homemade version of this Chocolate Sour Cream Cake too! It is soft, moist, and works great for both cakes and cupcakes! You can find it here!: Chocolate Sour Cream Cake from scratch. (The frosting used in the photo below is our Seven Minute Frosting- so light and fluffy!)
We have another scratch chocolate cake recipe to share. This classic chocolate cake has been a favorite over the years!
Classic Chocolate Cake from Scratch.
Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to check out our Recipes Section for a full listing of our FAVORITE tried and true cake and frosting recipes!!
If you love this Chocolate Sour Cream Cake, don't miss it's sister recipe, the fabulous White Almond Sour Cream Cake (doctored cake mix recipe)! So many cakes to try, so little time! I think that you will love them both!
Thanks for stopping by! Don't miss our full collection of FAVORITE Cake and Frosting Recipes in our Recipes section!
Why didn't you use vegetable oil in this cake? Is it because of the oil in the chocolate?
Hi Joan, this is just always the way we've made it-- If you'd rather use a little oil, you can add 2 tablespoons of oil to the recipe. We've tried it this way also but couldn't really tell a difference. ;0)
Hi Melissa
I made this recipe twice now. The cake and cupcakes sunk in the middle really bad. Not just a little - a lot. Any idea of why that might have happened. Thought maybe the first time I did something wrong, however, it happened the second time I used it as well. Thanks. Ruth
Hi Ruth, I am sorry you had a problem. These are some possible causes, oven temperature not accurate. It would be a good idea to buy an oven thermometer, I think you can find one at hardware stores. I have also seen them at Bed Bath and Beyond, if one is in your area. Make sure that the oven is pre-heated before putting in the cake pans. Do not oven the oven door until the baking time is near the end. Make sure your baking powder is not out of date (though this does not apply to this recipe, it is good to know). When making this recipe, you did not add the ingredients on the cake mix box in addition to the ingredients listed.....right? Let me know if you think any of these suggestions might help
Thanks BeBe
I made a 16 x 16 cake last night with the recipe and followed your suggestions on making sure the oven was at the correct temp and did not open the door until the time had expired. No, I did not add the box instruction ingredients. I do have an in oven thermometer. I did get a different sour cream. I noted that one I was using was pretty thin. I bought a really thick one. The cake turned out GREAT!! I did use 4 flower nails in the center because it was so big. Thanks a bunch. I love this recipe now.
Ruthie
Hi Ruthie, I'm happy you solved the problem, it could have been the watery sour cream. Using the flower nails in the large pan did help distribute the heat for more even baking. Thank you so much for posting your experience, I'm sure it will help other members.
I usually bake scratch recipes, cakes tend to be more tender/fragile. Due to 90 degree weather I was looking for something more durable . I used this recipe for a Sesame Street Birthday cake, the chocolate cake tasted great (i did use the tbsp of cocoa). More importantly it cut so smoothly, not crumbling or sticking to the knife. This will be my go to chocolate cake when a scratch recipe doesn't fit the conditions. However i have yet to try your scratch recipe, thats next!
Hi Anamoro20, I'm so glad that you loved the recipe! Thanks so much for your feedback.
Hi Melissa and BeBe, I know this may sound ridiculous, but I have never drank coffee before, therefore never purchased it in any form...my question is...how do I buy the coffee? Not sure if I go to McDonald's and just order a cup of coffee plain, or do I purchase actual coffee grinds from grocery store and put in cake. The cake will be covered in fondant. Please help!! Cake due Saturday. Thanks so much! And thanks for always being here for us!!
HI Terri, Yes, you can go you can use coffee purchased from McDonalds. If you are going to be making this recipe often, it would be convenient for you to have a container of instant coffee granules in your pantry. Just to be clear, the instant coffee granules are mixed (1 rounded teaspoon) with 1 cup hot water to make the coffee. This is in place of the 1 cup water in the recipe.
Do you have a recipe for white cake somewhat like this
Hi Sheilapatane, We have the White Almond Sour Cream recipe that uses cake mix. You can leave out the almond flavor to have a vanilla flavored cake. This recipe uses whole eggs so the cake will not be a white color. I think you could replace the whole eggs with egg white (2 egg whites = 1 whole egg. Here is a link to the recipe https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes-tutorials/white-almond-sour-cream-cake/