Valentine’s Day is the birthday of a special person in my life and I will need to make a cake. Chocolate with chocolate chips is the request. This recipe for a rich, hand mixed chocolate cake is adapted from BiRite Market’s Eat Good Food-wonderful in celebration of Valentine’s Day in addition to any other occasion.
Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Chocolate Chips
For Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup high quality cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
Position rack in the center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-12 cup Bundt pan, set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt and water. Melt together over medium heat, stir to combine and remove from heat when all is just melted. Set aside.
Whisk together flour, sugar and baking soda in a large bowl until blended. Add half of the melted butter mixture and whisk until completely blended (mixture will be very thick). Add the remaining butter mixture and whisk. Add eggs one at a time, and whisk each to blend completely before adding the next. Whisk in the sour cream and vanilla until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and before inverting to a plate to serve and enjoy.
12 Minute Walk/Run Workout
The 12 minute run is a classic fitness test devised in 1968 by Dr Ken Cooper to measure aerobic fitness. A person simply walks or runs as far as he or she can in 12 minutes and the distance is recorded.
The 12 minute run is actually a simple workout that can be used on a regular basis. If you are able to run-you run as many laps as you can on a track or use a treadmill to record the distance you complete in 12 minutes time. If running does not work for you, then walking as far as you can in 12 minutes is also very effective. The key is to push yourself to a point where you feel out of breath and cannot really talk.
I have found the 12 minute run to be an effective way to get me on a treadmill lately, as I have needed motivation to get on a treadmill (I much prefer outdoors). 12 minutes is a short enough time to talk yourself into exercising when you may not feel like it. Once you get going, you may feel like competing with yourself to match or surpass your previous distance. The 12 minute run is a great way to watch yourself improve with the distance you can cover in that time. Give this workout a try-you most certainly can find 12 minutes to get active!
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Posted in commentary, Recommendation, Vivian Law, Workout
Tagged 12 minute run, 12 minute run test, aerobic fitness test, Dr Ken Cooper