(Note: this is my 200th blog post! Thanks for being here to celebrate that with me!) 

Some years ago my husband and I worked in  youth ministry. We worked with all kinds of lovely, love-hungry teenagers; many from broken homes, poor homes, abusive homes, as well as some from strong, loving families. We embraced them all! We were very young, but felt like those teenagers were our own kids.

It was always hard to say goodbye when we left one group for another ministry or job, but we eventually had to, and we always departed with tears.

When it was time for us to leave one group in Florida, one of the sweet teenage girls brought us a cake she had made for us.  We cut it and had a slice…then another….and another!  It was so wonderful! Chocolate-y, moist, light, and full of chocolate chips and pecans. It was so good it didn’t even need icing.

 

We immediately asked her to get us the recipe.

She whipped it right out of her pocket, written on two index cards,  and she said, “I knew you’d want it. It’s my sister’s recipe, and everyone who eats it wants the recipe.”  🙂  Smart girl.

That was in 1994. I can’t believe how many years have passed since I saw that sweet girl, and I can’t even count how many times I’ve made this cake since then.

 

I’ve sold it at many bake sales and fundraisers, and have taken a number of special orders from people who wanted one of these and one of my lemon pound cakes, as well. I don’t know where people put all that cake, but they loved it enough to order both! I’ve made it many times for my boys, most importantly, and that’s why I made it today; my oldest son, Justin, asked me to make him one. How could I possibly say no?

The silly thing is, this isn’t one of those hard to make pound cakes. Everything goes in one bowl at the same time!  It’s also simple because the recipes calls for some  pre-prepared ingredients. I usually don’t do that, but for speed and ease, this is just perfect. (for a more traditional pound cake, try my mom’s recipe, found by clicking here.)

Simple sour cream-chocolate chip pound cake

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 small box chocolate pudding mix

1 cup sour cream (I used light sour cream)

3/4 cup oil

3 eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 cup milk (water will work in a pinch)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 small bag (about 2 cups) chocolate chips

1 cup pecan pieces (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips and pecans in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir together on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop, and scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula.

Continue mixing on medium-high for 1 and 1/2 minutes. Add chips and pecans, then stir in on low or by hand.

Pour into a greased and floured bundt or tube pan. (I use Baker’s Joy cooking spray. So much easier!)

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.  Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Notes: I baked mine for about 55 minutes today, but ovens differ, so keep an eye on yours. I also sprinkled ours with a dusting of powdered sugar, as it looks pretty that way, but you can leave it plain or top it with chocolate sauce or caramel sauce, if you’d like. Also, cinnamon chips or white chocolate chips can be substituted for part of the chocolate chips for a different twist!

If you really can’t bring yourself to use a boxed cake mix, here’s the solution for you: a recipe for your own cake mix from scratch! Click here to go to that site to see the recipe.

 

I hope two things: that you will do what that sweet teenager did 19 years ago and share this recipe with someone (or even share a cake with them!) and that you’ll come back here to let me know how you (or someone you made it for) liked it.

I appreciate you and am so glad you’re here! Enjoy!