Sitting here in the kitchen typing, on a rainy day, knowing this cake is in my near future, I realize that despite the problems, life flows over with good things. We don’t get a lot of rain, and rain really is wonderful. But I have to say this cake alone is a powerful recipe for some happiness. Plus, it makes plenty to share and is easy to slice and take over to a neighbor. Sharing good things is maybe the most effective recipe for happiness.

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake is good enough to share because the buttermilk and nutmeg make the cake taste amazing. The flavors are subtle—people won’t know why the cake is so good. The other secret to its spectacular is a dusting of cinnamon and powdered sugar. Those are easy secrets and the recipe is easy, too. Just make sure you follow the directions. Don’t miss out on this one!

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake a.k.a. Happy Day Cake

  Serves at least 20, depending on how thinly you slice

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips

Cinnamon and powdered sugar, to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 325.  Thoroughly! grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan and set aside. We like to use Baker’s Joy for this step.  

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.

 For three or four minutes, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, pale, and looking a bit like play dough (see photo).  Add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk, and beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Don’t overmix; just fold gently until the batter only has a few streaks of flour left.  Then stir in the chocolate chips until they look evenly distributed.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.  Bake the cake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a test comes out without wet batter clinging to it. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes, then gently loosen the edges of cake away from the pan, including the interior edges in the center. Remove from pan and let finish cooling.

After moving the cake to a plate to keep the counter clean, put a couple of tablespoons powdered sugar and a couple of teaspoons cinnamon in a sifter and sprinkle over the top and sides of the cake (the best you can). If you don’t mix the sugar and cinnamon before putting them into the sifter, then it’s best to use first one, then the other. This sprinkling is easy to do and makes the cake extra delicious.