Sanity/Cinnamon Chocolate-Chip Sour Cream Cake

Sometimes I am compelled to question my sanity. I mean, I woke up at an ungodly hour yesterday morning and moseyed to the supermarket just so I could buy the ingredients to make this cake. You see the thing is, its not that I was craving sweets or chocolate or anything, but I had decided that I was going to bake a cake for my blog. So, despite papers and midterms, at 8 am I was lurking outside the supermarket waiting for the doors to open. By 10:30 piping hot deliciousness was sneaking out of my oven. I wish I could have been in my roommate’s head when she walked out of her room and there was already a cake baking. I wouldn't blame her for worrying, normal people don’t make cakes the second they roll out of bed. Except for me that is, I swear I am totally normal.

It all started on Monday, when I decided that things have been looking a little salty around here recently, so I knew it was time to bake something up. I have more or less a million recipes bookmarked on my computer, but I didn’t feel like making anything fancy or difficult. To quote my oh-so-eloquent self, “I just want to make a cake where I just throw everything into a bowl and ta-dah!” Even though this cake had a few more steps than that, each and every one was entirely worth it. I have been eyeing this cinnamon chocolate-chip sour cream cake from Smitten Kitchen for a few months now, hoping I would find the right moment to make it. This is Deb's mom's recipe and Deb claims that it’s the reason her husband married her, if that’s true I wouldn’t blame him. This cake really is that good, ridiculously moist, just chocolatey enough with crackling cinnamon sugar on top. Let's just say, that once I ate it I stopped questioning my sanity, and my "logic" finally made sense.

This cake is really good stuff, so good that I was worried I would try to test my theory that I could easily plow through a whole 9” x 13” cake in one day. As a preventative measure, I cut up some cubes of cake and took them with me to campus, I figured there were other people in need of comforting during hectic midterm season. Walking around with a zip-loc full of yummy cake squares, it looked like I was fishing for friends. Trust me, if anyone who tasted this cake didn’t already know me, I could have easily made a lot of new friends today. The mission to get this delicious cake out of sight (it will never be out of mind) as fast as possible was pretty successful. I might love cake, but so do my hips, so much so that they seem to hold on to it forever, how sweet. So, there’s only one thing left to say about this cake, make it. Sharing it is up to you, if today is your day to test the 9" x 13" cake theory, let me know how that works out.

Cinnamon Chocolate-Chip Sour Cream Cake
(from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes a 9 x 13 inch cake

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter (4 ounces or 8 tablespoons) at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 ounces sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

12 ounces chocolate chips
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F.
2) In a large bowl, cream butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar, then mix in the egg yolks and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda and baking powder together into a separate bowl. Alternately add sour cream and then dry ingredients into butter mixture. Beat eggs whites until stiff, then fold into batter. Mix last 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon together in a separate, small dish.
3) In a greased 9″x13″ pan, pour in half of the cake batter. Sprinkle the top with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture and half of the chocolate chips. Pour remaining batter on top, sprinkling the top with the remaining cinnamon-sugar and chocolate chips.
4) Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.