Fabulous Food Friday with Tanja's Cupcakes

Welcome to Fabulous Food Friday! While exploring the blogosphere, I realized that there were many great recipes to share. So every Friday, I am going to try to feature an awesome blogger with their great recipe! Today’s feature blogger is Tanja from Tanja's Cupcakes. When you get a chance, swing by Tanja's yummy blog.  I’m sure you’ll find a recipe you and your family will love. Hvala Tanja!

Hi everyone! I'm Tanja, a 19 years old pharmacy student and food
blogger from Slovenia. I started baking when I bought my first cupcake
cookbook last May because I thought cupcakes were so cute. Well, at
first, I was just looking at the pictures, but then I tried baking
them because I needed something creative, since there isn't any
creativity involved in studying pharmacy! Six months later I started
this blog to keep track of all the recipes I already made (with
pictures!) and of course, to share the delicious recipes with
everyone.

I don't know if it has happened to you before, but every time I land
on Martha Stewart's website, I bump into one of her layer cake
slideshows. How am I supposed to NOT bake a cake after seeing all that
creamy glossiness and deliciousness (if that's not a word yet, it
should be!). The last time I was there, I chose a chocolate cake that
had a pretty glossy finish and looked really sophisticated. Plus, the
title was Easy Chocolate Cake. When I made it though, the ganache was
far from perfect. It was ruining the cake, so I decorated it with a
lot of sprinkles. The result? Everyone loved it! So now I know that
whenever my frosting fails horribly, I can always take sprinkles and
transform the cake into pure awesomeness. And you can too! You'll
thank me later. This cake, apart from the perfect ganache, is very
easy to make and you probably already have the ingredients at home. It
has a very strong chocolate flavor, so you might want to serve it with
whipped cream.

Easy Chocolate Cake

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175° C).
   Butter an 8-inch round cake pan; line bottom with wax paper. Butter
   paper, dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together
   cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl,
   cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a
   time, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture
   alternating with sour cream, starting and ending with the flour
   mixture.
3. Spread batter into prepared pan. Tap
   pan firmly on countertop several times to force out large air bubbles.
   Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35
   minutes. Remove from oven. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a
   wire rack to cool completely (bottom side up). Set rack over a rimmed
   baking sheet. Pour glaze over, spread gently to coat entirely. Let
   stand until set. Garnish with chocolate shavings. Serve with whipped
   cream.

Chocolate Glaze

4 ounces coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to
a boil. Pour over chocolate, whisk until smooth. Let cool until thick
yet pourable, 2 to 3 minutes.