I made a chocolate cake over the weekend... the recipe i used was new to me. The batter was very runny, like soup and i was a little worried, as all of the batters I have used before were much thicker. My regular chocolate cake batter is very thick, I have to spread it in the pan.
Anyway, the thin battered cake was AWESOME. ( 'That Chcoclate Cake' from Scharffenberger and Steinberg: Essence of Chocolate cookbook)
The cake was very moist and tender. So my question is... does Runny batter make a better cake or did I just get lucky with this one? And which do you prefer to use, thick or thin?


ps I topped the cake with orange & dark chocolate ganache I whipped 2/3 of it and spread it over the cake and between layers, and left the other 1/3 runny and drizzled it over the top and ran down the sides. If you have never tried chocolate and orange, go for it... it's yummy.

i would like to know if there is an advantage of using runny batter over thick batter also....recently i made a peanut butter cake and the batter was thicker then i am used to....i was skeptical...but in the end it turned out wonderful! then a while back i made a chocolate cake that had very runny batter and maybe i did something wrong....but my cakes sunk in the middle and over flowed in the pans...it was just a disaster!....

I am just guessing here but I would assume that since runny batter has a higher percentage of liquid in the mix, it would be more moist. I have experienced this as well. I"m sure someone who is more familiar with the science of cake baking will be able to give a more accurate answer.

Thick cake batters results in a lighter fluffier cake and the thin soupy batter would be dense and heavy.

I find thick batter will result in dense, heavy cakes. Watery batter results in light and fluffy cakes - that's from my experience. I love watery batter because my cakes are more moist compared to a thick batter.

Yeah, I made Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Cake for my daughter, but with buttermilk and coffee instead of mild and water. It was extremely thin. Cake was good but did sink in the center even though it tested done.

Oh, and I agree, chocolate and orange are to die for!!!!

would you share your recipe

AI think it really depends on how you are using the cake. If you are stacking them the batter should be thicker so the cakes won't get squished. Just to decorate one single layer, sure why not make it fluffy! Also, it really depends on how you like your cake, but personally I like it fluffy. Happy baking!

AI think it's the type/flavor of cake you want because in the recipes you use different amounts of sugar and flour etc.

thick batters are more "stiff"/"solid", which means their atoms are quite close and packed to each other. this is why thick-battered cakes are very dense. it can also cause the cake to dry quickly. whereas in a thin batter, it is in a liquidy state. the atoms are less packed and have no regular arrangement. they are "loose". hence, the outcome of a loose-battered cake is less dense, moist and best of all, fluffyyyy. we can now conclude that the thinner your batter, the higher chance of getting the best textural cake is  terminal.

Absolutely not! I have a chocolate cake recipe where the batter is runny like soup and it's the best cake of all. So light and moist! 

But this thread is ancient. ..not sure if the Op still needs comments lol...

I just returned to scratch cake making. The last cake I made was a thick batter. Did not like how "tuff" it was and had fun using the cupcakes as weapons at my son! I won the food fight with them things. All humor aside, the thick batter tasted great in the bowl, and retained it's flavor. But it was tough. When they dried, they were like bricks. Made food fighting more fun, hahahahaha.

Just put a thin batter in the over. Also, used homemade butter for the recipe, too. It's Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cupcake recipe. I will let you know how it turns out.