Chocolate Lovers' Favorite Cake

"This is heaven! Thanks to other reviewers' comments, I made one major change. This is a lot of batter, and it would have overflowed my pan and been a disaster. So: I filled the Bundt pan to within 1.5..." See more" of the top and put the remaining in an 8 x 8 pan. I kept the baking time the same. They both turned out beautifully, and everyone raved! Also, I used 1/2 tsp. almond extract, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, which was great; and I used 12 oz. of mini chocolate chips (the regular-size chips would be too overpowering, too chunky). This is the best chocolate cake I've ever, ever had. One small slice is very rich (and addictive). I will definitely be making this a lot. It's really easy, too. Just be sure to really grease (butter) the Bundt pan. I did (I even had a Teflon Bundt pan, and stuff still sticks) and the cake slipped out wonderfully. Presentation is gorgeous: I swirled chocolate sauce on the plate, dusted it with confectioners' sugar, which I had also used to dust the top of the cake; and served with a small side of best-quality vanilla ice cream."

"I made this cake twice and the first time it flopped. I read through reviews with one star and found mine flopped exactly the way others did. It fell after being taken out of the oven and was a gooe..." See morey mess. So I spoke to someone who does cake making professionally and to make a long story short I found I had overprocessed it. I use a kitchenaid mixer which is more powerful than a hand held and I used the whisk attachment instead of the paddle attachment. So when I remade it I followed her instructions which were to mix the eggs, sour cream, butter, and vanilla together really well. Then I sifted the cake mix and pudding together and added the wet ingredients to dry and processed it for 2 min with the paddle attachment. This time I was successful. It made a very rich very chocolaty cake. My friend also said another reason cakes fall is the oven is not hot enough and so check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer and make sure the temperature isn't too low. "

"This cake was fantastic. A personal tip that I think would have helped all of the folks that had so much trouble . . . make sure you buy cake mix that DOES NOT already have pudding in the mix. I bet..." See more some people accidentally had double the pudding. Some other people's tips that I followed - 1 Tblsp of flour mixed in the mini chips before adding to batter. Really butter the non-stick bundt pan and leave 1 1/2 inches space between batter and top of pan. There will be batter left over. Vanilla instead of almond extract. Ovens vary so watch the cake carefully - mine was done in 60 minutes. Let the cake rest for 10 minutes and you will notice it falling significantly. That is supposed to happen. That's why the cake turns out so dense and fudgy! We drizzled the cake with a dark chocolate ganache and filled the center hole with fresh raspberries and chocolate leaves. It looked like something from Better Homes and Gardens! My 8 year old son won Most Chocolatey Cake at his Cub Scout cake auction. It also set a record for most money paid for a cake - $31.00!"