Why You Need To Start Adding Sour Cream To Your Chocolate Cake Batter

Chocolate cake has a rich, sweet flavor that makes it an instant classic. While this dessert is known for its deliciousness, it actually offers other benefits, including increased happiness. According to Science Focus, chocolate contains tryptophan, an amino acid connected to serotonin production. It is currently unknown whether tryptophan produces serotonin before digestion, or if it's simply the experience of eating chocolate desserts that increase happiness. Either way, it's difficult to dislike a dessert that's as delicious and joy-inducing as chocolate cake. Unless, of course, it's dry.

Dry cakes can happen for a number of reasons. Two of the most common reasons include overmixing cake batter, which results in the production of excessive gluten, and overbaking the cake, per MasterClass. Chocolate cake is actually more prone to dryness than some other cakes are, so it's important that you're aware of a key way to moisten this dessert before making it. Surprisingly, this is where sour cream can help.

It's not hard to picture sour cream in a tangier dessert, such as key lime pie, but picturing it as an ingredient in chocolate cake is a bit more difficult for some. Even so, adding sour cream to your chocolate cake batter will help you make and maintain a moist cake, per Real California Milk. Sour cream adds moisture to cake due to its high level of acidity, which helps it make especially tough or dry foods, such as pound cake, more soft, moist, and flavorful. You'll only need to add 1 cup to prevent cake dryness.

Sour cream has a fairly high fat content (via WebMD), which works with its high acidity level to ensure cake moisture. A high fat level decreases the gluten content in cakes, helping it prevent dryness in baked goods, per the Oils and Fats Specialist Group of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry. It's important to note that the flavor and texture of your chocolate cake can vary based on the type of sour cream used. For example, regular sour cream can provide a more creamy texture than reduced-fat sour cream, per Imperial Sugar. 

There are several other ingredients you can use to make and keep your cake moist. According to MasterClass, adding applesauce to cake batter is a great way to maintain moisture. Additionally, an easy technique that helps prevent cake dryness is avoiding overmixing. As mentioned, overmixing can create an excess amount of gluten in the cake batter, resulting in a dry cake once it's baked. Other simple things you can do to ensure a moist cake include baking the cake at the proper temperature (no higher than 350 degrees Fahrenheit) and frosting the cake directly after it cools to trap in moisture.

Imperial Sugar reports that buttermilk is also great for increasing moisture in cakes. It adds a tangy, rich flavor to desserts that many people enjoy. Though, if you're not very fond of tang in cake, you can always stick with sour cream to ensure that your chocolate cake is delicious and tender.