Daddy's Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

My father LOVES his sour cream chocolate cake. So for his birthday this year, I figured I'd try to make a recipe that lived up to his standards of this lovely dessert. After tweaking it a bit, I think I've got a good one. It's a pretty simple recipe to follow, so try it out!

• 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sour cream (or yogurt)
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt

Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Mix sugar with wet ingredients in a stand mixer or in a food processor. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, blend/beat until incorporated. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Will make 24 cupcakes or 2 9 inch round cakes.

Simple Frosting, a.k.a, "What's in the fridge?"

     My "Oh, it's Valentine's Day and I'm supposed to be helping my friend with her new boyfriend and making cupcakes" feeling has set in, and so I went to the fridge to make my frosting ahead of time (because one thirty a.m. the day of is ahead of time). I discovered 4 ounces of cream cheese... not enough for a full frosting by itself. I needed a stick of butter. I find... half a stick of butter. Well, damn. 
     So I got to the shortening. I add my vanilla and my powdered sugar and my gosh, it's so heavy and thick my hand mixer is straining from the effort. Lookie there, I have whipping cream! Pour some of that in and tada! I have a decent frosting that doesn't taste like anything in particular (no sense of buttercream or cream cheese or whipped cream frosting in itself), but rather a blend of all three. I like it. Here is my (tentative, add/subtract for your own consistency) recipe for "What's in the fridge?" simple frosting.Make it your own! (Or use mine. I like mine, y'know)

• 4oz. cream cheese
• 1/4 (4Tbsp) cup butter
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1-2 tsp vanilla extract (or whatever other extract you'd like)

      Blend butter, cream cheese, and shortening together until smooth and fluffly. Add one cup powdered sugar. Use 1/4 cup cream and your desired extract. Add more powdered sugar and heavy cream to desired consistency and blend on high until smooth and fluffy. (I believe this will frost 24 cupcakes...hope so!)