That's an interesting idea.......testing with a thermometer.

maryjsgirl and GatuPR thank you for your input! I'll definitely be trying both those tricks.

I made the chocolate stout cake today at work. I forgot to take a pic of it though. I did make multiple cakes as well as cupcakes with the recipe though and half are in the freezer till I pull them out to frost on Thursday.
So far this cake is great and has been received very well.

I made SW Chocolate Fudge cake today. I will post the full report Friday morning after my testers tell me how they liked the cake. I thought it was a good cake but I want to have more input before I give my critique. For now I will show what the cake looked like.

Ok...here it goes. I made the SW Chocolate Fudge Cake yesterday. I halved the recipe (it made a 6X4" layer cake and 9 cupcakes) and used all coffee instead of coffee and water. I did not freeze the cake. I followed the directions to the T...even timing the mixing process.

Flavor: It was a very tasty cake and the additional coffee really brought out the chocolate flavor. The vanilla also enhanced the flavor. My taste testers said that they like the cake but liked the flavor of my usual chocolate cake better. I have to agree because I like the flavor that the buttermilk gives a chocolate cake. I did my initial taste test on an unfrosted cupcake.
Texture/Crumb: It had a fine crumb. When I tasted the batter it was like silk on my tongue.
Moistness: On day one, it was moist but not stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth moist. On day 2 is did dry out a little, despite being frosted in buttercream. I needed a little milk to help it go down.
Ease of Preparation: It was a little time consuming to mix the cocoa and coffee and then allow to cool. The melting and cooling of chocolate was also a little time consuming. Other than that, it was a fairly straight foward recipe.
Cost: This cake was a little pricey because of the amount of eggs, chocolate, cocoa, and butter but I think it was worth it.

Over all I'd give this cake a 8.5 out of 10, subtracting for the dryness on day #2. I'll make it again but it won't be my go-to recipe.

Chocolate Stout Cake review
I made this in cake and cupcake form. The cupcakes came out fine so this recipe for sure will work for them.
Flavor: I thought it tasted good, but others just loved it. It has a different chocolate flavor because of the stout that they really seemed to enjoy. My brother doesn't care for sweets and couldn't stop eating the cake (of course he absolutely loves beer so maybe that's why )
Texture- Texture was perfect. Was a slightly denser cake, not light and fluffy, but that's what I prefer. The crumb was tight and well formed. No air pockets, which was great.
Moistness- Moist, but not overly moist where it would fall apart. Didn't have any left over to test for dryness on day 2.
Ease of Preparation- To me this cake was really easy to put together. I'm use to having to wait for a mixture to cool to room temp but with this one it only needs to cool slightly so it didn't take as long to make the batter up.
Cost- Kind of a middle of the road price range wise. It wasn't a dirt cheap cake to make but it wasn't expensive either. I think a lot of the cost depends on the quality of ingredients you are using.

I would rate this cake a 8.5 myself but my family rated this a 10.
My MIL is from Europe and hates American style cakes. She won't touch them, but she really liked this one. I'll for sure be making it again since I already have requests. It's one of the top chocolate cake recipes I have made but I still think I like Colette's Coco Loco cake a little better.

Chocolate Stout Cake Review

1.Taste: Has a nice chocolaty flavour that gets richer as you chew so that by the time you swallow its really quite nice. My husband really liked it and so did my daughter and her friend. My DH thought he could taste the stout in it by I couldnt. Maybe it was subliminal!
2. Texture: This cake has quite a light texture. Quite airy. My husband said its what he would have thought of when someone said chocolate cake. But for me it almost resembles something out of a box in its texture. It has quite a fine crumb if by that you would mean that its quite crumby. (Not crummy!) I find the texture so light that it releases a lot of crumbs as you cut and eat it. Added Later: As a side note, the texture above relates to the cupcakes and the mini cakes before refrigeration. I served the 10 cake a couple of days later at a work bee and the texture was quite different. Quite dense and it held its crumb really well. It got rave reviews from everyone at the bee and I dont know most of the folks who were there. Also, the cupcakes seemed to change quite dramatically after refrigeration as well. I have to say I much prefer the post-fridge cake!
3.Ease to make: I found that simmering the stout & butter didnt really add to the difficulty level enough for me to deduct points. Some people found that this type of step is inconvenient but in this recipe you heat things up first then whisk cocoa into that and let it sit while you get the other things ready. I simply did this first then prepared my pans after, then got the other ingredients ready. By the time I was ready to add the chocolate mixture it was cool enough.
4.Expense: Aside from the stout (not cheap!) this recipe isnt any more expensive than any other. But since Im not a regular at the liquor store this is probably one Ill keep for special requests.
5.Ability to turn into cupcakes: Seemed to convert quite nicely. But I always thought you could easily convert any cake batter to cupcakes. Apparently not, though?

Notes: I didnt follow this recipe to a Tee. I needed to substitute plain yogurt for the sour cream because I accidentally served it to my daughter and her guest! , I dont have the 3 recommended 8 pans so I used one 10, a dozen cupcakes and some mini shaped silicone pans Id been dying to try out. (A tip for anyone who doesnt already know: grease your silicone! I thought maybe you wouldnt need to but man was I wrong!) This batch makes a lot of batter so that might be a factor to consider. Also, this batter is quite liquidy. It was definitely a pour into the pan type of recipe. My mini cakes and cupcakes all baked in the allotted time more or less but the 10 cake took quite a bit longer.

Overall, I'd rate this cake at a 7 before the fridge but an 8.5 after.

Countrycakery4- you made a good point I didn't mention in my post. I made the cakes and wrapped them all up and froze them for 2 days. I made them at work on Tuesday and I didn't work again until Thursday. I'm sure that freezing them right away probably helped lock in some moisture. I didn't notice the cake was light but I also was at work and I made a 4x batch of this cake at once instead of a single cake. I made it in 9 inch springforms, 8 inch rounds and cupcake form. I didn't have many issues with crumbs when flipping the cakes out from the oven and after I thawed them out after freezing there was hardly any, this could have been from the freezing process though.
One cupcake was tried right after it was baked and I wasn't really that impressed. I believe this is one of those cakes that mellow as it has time to sit, which seems to be pretty important for this recipe. However, I always try wait at least 24-48 hours before serving a cake so the crumb has time to rest and tighten and flavors mellow. (That and I'm lazy at times )

mkolmar- I think you're absolutely right. Thinking back, I realize that I often find cake tasted better after it's mellowed a bit. Properly stored of course! And you're right about the crumb tightening. The cakes we had straight away were very messy! And the cake we had at the work bee was exactly the kind of cake I like. I've just recently started freezing cakes before working on them (thanks to the tips from CC'ers!) and I LOVE the difference. So much easier to handle, way fewer crumbs etc. In fact I'd wanted a deep freeze for a long time, you know, storage and stuff, but never made a real point of buying one until I had an especially busy cake week and knew it would be impossible w/out one! Now I'm hooked! Anyhow, I digress...

Today I made Toba Garrett's Chocolate Fudge Cakeand I have to say that this was a really good cake. I cut the recipe in half and it made 2-6" square layers. I did not make cupcakes because I didn't have enough batter left to attempt them.

Flavor: Very fudgy and flavorful. It reminded me of a brownie. The chocolate was not overpowering and I could also taste the buttermilk. I tend to favor chocolate cakes made with buttermilk.
Texture/Crumb: It was a dense cake with a fine crumb. It didn't break apart when lifted by the edges. It was smooth....like a brownie.
Moistness: The cake was moist but not to the point of being wet. It was stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth moist, though. That was handled with a glass of milk
Ease of Preparation: Add all but melted chocolate to the mixer and beat.... can't get much easier than that. The melted chocolate didn't take a long time to cool.
Cost: Moderate since there was cocoa and fine semi-sweet chocolate (I use Hershey's Special Dark and Ghiardelli's). Also the buttermilk is a litte more expensive than regular milk.

Overall I give this cake a 9. I deducted a point because of the shrinkage after coming out of the oven. It didn't bake up really high, as I'd like. I hope I didn't overbake it

Here are the photos:



[/b]

Lita, that cake looks so good.
I'm getting ready to bake again today so I'll try to make the other 2 recipes I signed up for.

I didn't sign up cos I didn't know if I'd have time to bake as we're vacationing but as luck would have it I had a few free afternoons in my mother's house so off to the kitchen I went. Don't have photos to post but here are my assessments:

Notes: I had my testers try it plain and then also as a layer cake frosted and filled with milk chocolate ganache. My non-random panel of judges were: dh, our 4 boys, mom, dad & sister - all very discerning cake enthusiasts. And a 6 year old Jack Russel-Beagle who loves cake too.

For all the recipes I used Hershey special dark Cocoa as it was the only cocoa in my mom's pantry. When called for I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate.

Tried the cakes again after 3 days - they all consistently were moister and the flavors muted but seemingly more well-rounded.

Toba's Chocolate Fudge Cake

Flavor: Very fudgey and chocolatey. Dark, dark chocolate flavor. There's definitely a tang from the buttermilk. My testers found it almost too intense. Very rich. Additional points for being "not too sweet"
Texture/Crumb: Dense, compact crumb. Moist but more like fudgey moist. I agree with previous comments - it's a stick to the roof of your mouth kind of dense. In my testers' opinion, needs to be balanced with a lighter frosting so as not to be too rich. This would be good for carving as it's crumb is so compact but make sure the cake is semi-frozen otherwise it can break.
Ease of Preparation: So easy even my mom can do it (and she doesn't bake). Very level layers. Some crispy top edges which I just trimmed away.
Cost: I'm gonna quote Lita on this one: "Moderate since there was cocoa and fine semi-sweet chocolate (I use Hershey's Special Dark and Ghiardelli's). Also the buttermilk is a litte more expensive than regular milk." Most expensive of the 4
Ability to turn into cupcakes: In the 2 years that I've been making thi recipe, I've never had success with this as cupcakes. They end up collapsing on me.
Overall: 8.5. The taste is sensational but the texture and intense flavor makes it less versatile than other cakes.

Epicurious Double Chocolate Layer Cake

Flavor: Very fudgey and intense chocolate flavor. I was concerned that using oil would affect the flavor but it my testers weren't able to discern which cakes were made with oil and which were made with butter. Everyone's favorite. Tastes like an expensive bar of dark chocolate. Testers also suggested a lighter frosting than ganache.
Texture/Crumb: Moist and tender. Crumb is larger than Toba's cake - reminds me of the modified CakeMan Raven's yellow cake recipe. Remains soft and tender even when refrigerated. Also good for carving as long as it's semi-frozen during assembly.
Ease of Preparation: Easy. Baked up nice and flat. Some top edges got crispy like toba's but I just trimmed them off.
Cost: moderate. needs good quality semisweet chocolate - 2nd most expensive cake of the 4 i tried
Ability to turn into cupcakes: haven't tried
Overall: 9. This has been my standard chocolate cake for about a while now.

Wicked Wandas

Flavor: Chocolatey but after trying the previous two cakes, this pales in comparison. Testers agreed that this is one cake that benefitted from the ganache filling and frosting. Mom and dh commented they can taste the baking soda in this cake.
Texture/Crumb: Moist and tender
Ease of Preparation: Easy. Baked up nice and flat like epicurious
Cost: moderate - lots of cocoa and uses buttermilk
Overall: 7. Good for spur of the moment cakes but I wouldn't go out of my way to bake this let alone use it for special occasions

Whimsical Bakehouse

Flavor: Least chocolatey of the four cakes. Testers found it too sweet. Bland. Mom and dh also claimed to taste the baking soda. Dad didn't like it at all.
Texture/Crumb: Moist but firm. Not as fine as Toba's cake crumbs but smaller than Epicurious. Good for carving
Ease of Preparation: Moderate - creaming method. My cake domed - no big deal as I just cut it off.
Cost: moderate - cheapest of the the 4
Overall: 6 - probably won't use again.

PS: My standard chocolate cake recipe is the chocolate fudge cake from the Cake Bible. I like it cos it doesn't have baking soda and the flavor of the chocolate is full and well rounded. Tastes like a bar of milk chocolate. Yum yum. But the crumb is very fine and velvety so those who didn't like Rose Levy's recipes for yellow cake will not be fans of this either. Cannot carve this cake either nor use it for topsy turvys. This cake benefits from standing at least 24 hours after frosting and filling as the frosting is absorbed into the cake making it even moister. This for me is the best tasting chocolate cake ever. I'm kicking myself for not thinking to make it too, if only to see how it stacks up against these four!

When I get home I wanna try Sylvia's chocolate cake. I almost did it but I got put off by the number of eggs required - 12 eggs! egad!

The chocolate cake broke when I tried to flip it out of the pan. It was Lily's recipe (I think that was her grandmas) The top of the cake looks a little different. Don't really know how to describe it but almost like there was bubbles that popped that were small in size. The cake did bake up pretty well though and flat. Not perfectly flat, but pretty darn close. It didn't shrink any either. The crumb seems good but I'm letting it rest for a day to give it time to tighten some more. I tried a piece that broke when it came out of the oven and it tasted kind of like baking soda to me. 2 of my kids tried a tiny piece and spit it out saying it tasted a little funny (I think they may have tasted that baking soda also), but one of my sons wanted another small chunk of cake. It didn't really have much a of a chocolate flavor but a pretty faint one. Granted this was fresh from the oven, so I'm interested to see what tomorrow brings since I'm sure it will improve like most other cakes.

Well I didn't sign up to try any of the recipes. But, I got an order for a chocolate cake Carved - and I tried the black magic cake. I will let you all know what I think of it.

Just now remembered to update on the cake (lily's cake). I let it rest for 24 hours and it made a big difference. The crumb was better the 2nd day. The baking soda taste was not nearly as strong, but it was still faintly there.
The chocolate flavor is very light. I would prefer something stronger in chocolate flavor though for myself. I made it in a 9x13 pan so I don't know if it would work for cupcakes. It was moist but not as moist as I would prefer. I blame myself for that though since I may have overbaked it for a few minutes. I would rate this around a 6.5
I'll try it again down the road and not add the extra baking soda and up the cocoa to make it deeper in flavor.

I signed up to bake the Softasilk Deluxe Chocolate Cake and Toba Garrett's cake, but also baked Wicked Wanda's. I made two 6" rounds and a dozen cupcakes for each recipe. I've given the plain cake taste test to my family using the cupcakes. I'm in the process of making the icing (I'm doing a little taste test on icing as well) and will ice the 6" cakes and give a second test. I have to say that I was rooting for Wicked Wanda's to be the favorite, due to ease and cost of making, but was the least favorite of all five who participated...DH, 20 yr old DS, 14 year old DS, 12 year old DS and 14 year old niece. Toba's was by far the favorite of all testers. I wonder, though, if the others will benefit enough from icing/filling (I'll use the same on all) to improve their ratings. I will post a full review of all cakes tomorrow, after all the testing is completed; just wanted to let y'all know I'm working on it as I ALWAYS seem to wait till the last minute.

Here are my results for the 2 cakes I signed up for. My only other tester was my husband.

The Wicked Wanda's Chocolate Cake (A.K.A. Hershey's Black Magic Cake), which varies in oil amount only:
The only substitution I made was to use 1/3 C applesauce for the oil amount, since even when I baked chiffon cakes I use applesauce and don't really notice a difference. I also decrease the amount of liquid by 1/3 C.

1. Flavor: This is the first time trying this recipe and we really enjoy the chocolate flavor. I used the Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa and expresso coffee. It was hard to stop eating it. I did not frost the cake after, we just ate it plain.
2. Texture/Crumb: I thought the texture was just perfect in this cake. Light but not too crumbly. I did the thermometer test for doneness and when I took it out of the oven it read 200. Left it in the pan for 10 minutes and then a cooling rack. I did not freeze the cake since I don't have much freezer space.
3. Moistness: This cake was very moist. It stayed moist after 3 days.
3. Ease of Recipe: The cake itself was very easy to prepare. If you are a coffee drinker, is even easier. For me, it took a while to make the expresso coffee since I don't have a coffee maker or drink coffee and I didn't want to use instant coffee. I think next time I will just buy it already made somewhere.
4. Cost of Recipe: If you bake cakes on a regular basis you probably have most of the ingredients, so it wasn't too expensive in my opinion other than the expresso coffee and buttermilk, which you can make yourself.
5. Ability to convert into cupcakes: I didn't make cupcakes, sorry.

Overall, I give this cake a 9.5, just because of the time it took me to figure out how to make the expresso coffee. Definitely will be making again.

The Softasilk Deluxe Chocolate Cake (A.K.A. Deluxe Devil's Food Cake): This cake was kind of hard to figure out since the posted recipe varies from the box recipe. I bought a box of Softasilk cake flour and the CC posted recipe adds an extra 1 tsp. vanilla, one extra egg and baking powder, which the box recipe doesn't call for it. I decided to make the one posted here.

1. Flavor: Again, first time baking this cake. For this cake, I used Dutch processed Hersheys Special Dark chocolate. It had a very good deep chocolate flavor.
2. Texture/Crumb: This cake was denser than the Wicked Wandas cake. A little too dense for my taste. It reminded me of a brownie almost.
3. Moistness: Moist at first but after a couple of days it became a little dry. I didnt frost this cake either. We just ate it plain.
3. Ease of Recipe: This cake took longer to make than the Wicked Wandas since you have to cream butter/sugar and then add eggs one at a time, etc. like most scratch recipes.
4. Cost of Recipe: A little more expensive to make with the cake flour, butter, Dutch processed cocoa and buttermilk.
5. Ability to convert into cupcakes: Didnt make cupcakes, sorry.

Overall, I give this cake an 8.5 just because I didnt care much for the texture but the flavor was really good. I think next time I will skip one egg and omit the baking powder like the box recipe.

OK! I am finally ready with my reviews. I chose to bake the Guinness Stout cake. But since I baked the SCW Fudge Brownie cake the week before AND the week after, I am including a review of that cake as well, since it is fresh in my mind. However, I didn't take pics of the SCW cake.

Since I think the forums are having an issue with uploading pics lately (right?), photos of the Stout cake can by found on my photobucket site http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/ceshell/Cake%20Central%20Chocolate%20Scratch%20off/ (Anyone who can't upload pics to CC right now should do this! )

Chocolate stout cake review
1.Taste: I really like the flavor of this cake. Its a nice deep, dark chocolate, and does not taste like a liquor cake. I do detect a faint hint of the stout itself, but mostly the chocolateyness of the stout simply enhances the cocoa. My 5-year old daughter didnt notice the beer taste. Note: I used Barry Callebaut dark dutched cocoa.
2. Texture: I liked the light, airy part of the texture, but what I did not care for was the kind of coarseness to the crumb. For me the airiness meant it was full of air pockets, which robbed the cake of that moist feel in your mouth. I wish I could describe this well, because the cake really IS moist, but yet it SEEMS not moist, all at the same time. NOTE: This problem was a little lessened after freezing the cake definitely got denser like most frozen cakesbut I still was not a fan of the crumb. Both the cupcakes and the cake also developed a very thin but crispy outer crust.
3. Ease to make: I could do without the whole simmer-the-beer and then whisk-in-the-cocoa step as it just adds to the cleanup mess, but its not a deal breaker. The rest of the steps are pretty simple, just mix and dump.
4.Expense: Moderate. 2 cups of stout will run you about $1.50-$2, a whole package of butter, and a 16oz container of sour cream (since the 8oz wont yield you enough s/c.)
5.Ability to turn into cupcakes: Yes, this converted great. The cupcakes baked up beautifully flat and firm.

Overall, I am a little torn about this recipe. I did like the flavor a LOT but the texture wasnt really working for me.

Rating: I give it an 8

Scott Clark Woolley Fudge Brownie Cake
1. Taste still my hands down favorite cake. Intense, rich, fudgy chocolatey flavor. Sometimes I worry this cake will be TOO chocolatey for people, but it has such a gourmet taste to it, everyone always loves it. Even my 5 year old! Again, I use dutch process cocoa which is dark and full of flavor. The cake is so moist and delicious, it doesnt need icing. I first thought it was far too rich to ice with dark chocolate ganache but guess what, I was wrong: with ganache its insanely delicious! However it is terrific with a nice vanilla IMBC too.
2. Texture dense with a very fine crumb. Although it is not chewy like a browniei.e. it is definitely a cake textureit is so dense and moist, I can see why he calls it a fudge brownie cake.
3. Ease to Make- Id say this is pretty simple. I use instant coffee rather than going to the effort to brew coffee. (It works fine without coffee too by the way: the coffee just adds some depth but you can NOT taste coffee in it.)
4. Expense- modest. I suppose its only expensive in that I insist on using fine cocoa. We have at least one mediocre review of this cake, but that was using Hersheys cocoa; so the dutch process is definitely worth the difference and perhaps that is an important note: that this recipe may not be a good one unless you use dp cocoa.
5. Ability to turn into cupcakes easy. Cupcakes come out great. However it is true that this batter does not rise much, so you will need to fill them at least ¾ full. Although I do sometimes get the dreaded dome on my cake (not always, but I just got a terrible dome in the Wilton sports ball pan), I never get domes on my cupcakes
.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10. I cant give anything a 10, right? There is always room for improvement. Just to satisfy the masses, Id love to find a recipe that tastes exactly like this, but has a lighter, fluffier texture since that is what some people prefer in a cake. However, for me, its great the way it is.

I may come back and post next month even though this scratch-off is over...as I still want to try at least one other recipe! But I just don't have the time right now.

Here's my full review of the cakes I made after the final taste test.

Wicked Wanda's Chocolate Cake: I made this cake twice because the batter was so thin, I thought I had forgotten to put in all of the flour. But it was just as thin the second time, so I guess that's the way it's supposed to be. I used Hershey's natural cocoa and Starbuck's coffee.

Flavor: I, again, wonder if I did something wrong or if the Hershey's natural cocoa was not a good choice because my family did not like this cake at all. They said it was sweet but not chocolately enough. I personally thought it was okay and could be good with the right filling/icing. I iced it with a hybrid of Sugarshack's and Indydebi's icing (as a result of my own icing taste test) and used Oreo filling, but family still didn't like it. I thought the additions helped with the flavor but still couldn't get it to "good".

Texture/Crumb: This cake was rose very nicely and had a light texture. It looked similar to a cake mix cake. Sorry, I still haven't figured out how to describe crumb.

Moistness: I froze one layer while hot and the other after it had cooled. The frozen hot layer was very moist and the layer frozen cooled was still moist, though not quite as much.

East of Recipe: Can't get any easier than this recipe.

Cost of recipe: As made, this recipe was quite inexpensive, but may benefit from higher-quality ingredients.

Ability to convert to cupcakes: Cupcakes rose very nicely and were flat.

All of a sudden I can't see what I'm typing. I'll submit this and start again. Don't know what's wrong.

Hmmm...I haven't been getting notifications of replies to this topic lately. Can't figure out how to reestablish that without posting to the thread again.

Anyway, it's about time to ask for some generous soul among us to volunteer to be the tabulator for this scratch-off. It should be relatively easy this time since the spreadsheet groundwork has all been laid by Carol (moreCakePlz) in the yellow cake scratch-off.

Anyone? Don't be shy. There's lots of admiration and gratitude in it for ya.

Let's try this again.

I forgot to rate Wicked Wanda's. I've seen this cake rated very high and really wonder if it's something I did, but I would have to rate it a 7. If rated on taste alone, I would have rated it a 5, but the ease and preparation, the low cost and the moistness brought it up. I will make this cake again with higher quality ingredients just to see.

Softasilk Deluxe Chocolate Cake: I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa.

1. Flavor: During the inital taste test of the cupcakes, I could really taste the almond flavoring and didn't really care for it, nor did my family, though they couldn't really describe what they didn't like. After freezing, (only the layer frozen while hot survived...my avatar got to the one cooling on the counter...and no, he's not allowed in the kitchen but guess the aroma was too enticing...lesson learned) the flavors melded/mellowed and the almond really became just a hint and my family really liked the flavor. When paired with the icing and filling, it was really yummy.
2. Texture: The texture was very light, almost too light. It kind of fell apart when trying to cut it or eat it. It would not be good for carving or fondant.
3. Moistness. Though the texture was very light, it was moist, which is kind of surprising. It almost melted in my mouth with the icing. A little hard to describe. It wasn't fudgey but it was smooth.
4. Ease of recipe: Not difficult, but more steps than Wicked Wanda's. But as long as I'm not whipping and folding egg whites, I'm happy.
5. Cost of recipe: A little higher because of the butter, buttermilk, cake flour and cocoa, but not bad.
Ability to convert to cupcakes: Cupcakes baked up nice and flat.

I really liked this cake and would rate it a 8.5, deducting points for it falling apart.

I can't see what I'm typing again, and will finish on a third entry.

Okay, final review...

Toba Garett's Chocolate Fudge Cake: I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa and Ghirardelli chocolate.

1. Flavor: Very rich, chocolatey fudgy flavor, but not too sweet. My family (all 5 who tasted) chose this as their favorite. I thought it tasted better with the icing, which balanced out the intense chocolate. I like things sweet!
2. Texture/Crumb: The cake is very dense and fudgey, but not coarse like a brownie. Just good.
3. Moistness: The layer frozen hot was almost too moist...but not. The layer frozen cooled was just right, but the layer frozen hot actually tasted a little better.
4. Ease of recipe. Melting chocolate is a pain since it's more dishes to wash but not a problem. As I said, at least I wasn't whipping egg whites.
5. Cost: Most expensive of the three to make due to the butter, both sugars, cocoa and chocolate, but still not bad.
6. Ability to convert to cupcakes. I had a little trouble with cupcakes...they fell a little in the middle and were a little crusty on the edges and top, but I can't swear it wasn't something I did...these were the first scratch chocolate cakes I've ever made.

Rating: We all really liked this recipe, but I'm not sure it would be a good recipe for the masses due to the intensity of the chocolate flavor and denseness of the cake. I would rate it a 9 overall, though my family would probably have voted vor a 9.8.

Who won the chocolate challenge???

Lita829, no need to apologize. Like I said I liked the flavor just the texture was not my favorite. I was just giving my opinion like everyone else has done. In my house, cakes last 3 to 5 days, even if the cake is really good because there is only 2 of us. We don't like to share lol.

I feel bad. I didn't mean to offend you or your recipe. I just pointed out the difference I saw in the box I bought from the one posted.

After reading vicki3336 comments, maybe I did something wrong or overmix the batter since she said her cake texture for the Softasilk was too light and mine was dense. We both rated it 8.5.