Best Chocolate Cake Ever

My older son, Nelson, had a birthday this week, so I wanted to post a recipe for his all-time favorite birthday cake. (This year, he got yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing, but this recipe is his true favorite.) I got this gem from Janette Rodrigues, who I worked with at the Virginian-Pilot. This was her signature cake for special occasions and we were fortunate to enjoy it many times at our office in Chesapeake. Janette actually got the recipe from a Houston Chronicle reader, Casandra Yazdanpanah, of Katy, Texas. It's title really is Best Chocolate Cake Ever, and I think you will agree.

The recipe is rich beyond description; it’s full of sour cream, eggs and real butter. I never frost this cake. All it needs is a sprinkling of powdered sugar. This cake freezes well and I have even made mini Bundt cakes, frozen them and pulled them out for various occasions. If you have mini Bundt pans, this recipe will make six.

1 package devil’s food cake mix (chocolate)
4 ounce package instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups sour cream
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate minichips
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan. Stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Add sour cream, butter, eggs and vanilla. Beat on low speed. Fold in chocolate chips. Batter will be very thick. Pour into Bundt pan and bake for 60-70 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.