I was definitely excited when I found out that the theme for this month's #BundtaMonth was candy. Who wouldn't be thrilled to be asked to "bake us a bundt using your favorite candy"? Now my only problem was that I have two favorite candy bars - one from Australia and one from the US. Which one should I use to make my bundt?
A mix of chopped cherries and coconut, smothered with Cadbury dark chocolate, the Cherry Ripe has always been from favorite chocolate in Australia. It is also the oldest chocolate bar in Australia. However, I can't seem to resist little cups of chocolate filled with peanut butter - the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup - that has always been my favorite chocolate in the US. In the end it was an easy decision because I did not have enough Cherry Ripes in my secret stash, and Reese's Peanut Putter Cups are more readily available for the majority of people. The Cherry Ripe bundt will have to wait for another day.
I wasn't sure if I should just wing it, but then I found this recipe at Wee Eats and it seemed to be just what I was looking for. After a few slight changes I was ready to bake. To get a deep, dark chocolate color and flavor this recipe uses Dutch-process cocoa. This type of cocoa is produced from beans that have been treated with an alkali that neutralizes the acidity. It therefore it does not react with baking soda and needs to be used in recipes that contain baking powder, or a recipe that has other acidic ingredients in proportionate amounts, hence the sour cream. For a more detailed breakdown I found that David Lebovitz has an excellent explanation on his website, which can be found here.
