Darn Good Chocolate Cake

"This is a good summertime cake," says Ann Byrn. "It's not fussy. There's no frosting, and when you eat it warm from the oven, with the chocolate chips melted inside, it's really good."

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food or dark chocolate-fudge cake mix

1 package (3.9 ounces) chocolate instant

pudding mix

4 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1-1/2 to 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 12-cup Bundt pan.

Place the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, water, and oil in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 to 3 minutes more, scraping down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, making sure they are well distributed throughout the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 45 to 50 minutes. (The toothpick test doesn't work with this cake.) Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Invert it onto the rack to cool completely, 20 minutes or more. (If the cake doesn't readily release from the pan, run a knife lightly around the edge of the cake.)

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society