I just tried the dark chocolate cake recipe on CC : http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2185-Dark-Chocolate-Cake.html and it was AWESOME!!!!

I also tried the vanilla bride's cake from here and it turned out a little dry. I was wondering if there was a way to make that dark choc. cake recipe vanilla......... the only real choc. part in it is the hershey's (or other brand) cocoa powder ...... is there a vanilla powder??? Where would I find that?

Or does anyone else have a good vanilla recipe? It seems that kind of cake is hard to get moist - I've tasted a lot of white wedding cakes that were so dry and the rest of the flavors are good from the same baker - it's just that white is so dry all the time.......

Thanks!

bumping myself along

guess a great vanilla cake IS truly hard to make! I haven't received any replies......... so I'm bumping myself up again in hopes that someone can help me!!!

Do you think I could use a French Vanilla hot chocolate mix in place of the cocoa powder? It's not chemically the same I"m sure so I don't know that it would turn out good at all.......... anyone????

wow I'm going to get bumped off already and I entered this about 10 sec ago....... bumping again!

Maybe vanilla powdered coffee creamer? I use the Wal MArt brand in my coffee every morning, and it is very good. Also maybe add a little extra vanilla extract to it may help.

instead of adding the cocoa, try adding pudding mix to your batter. French vanilla is very good, however, I must admit that I am more partial to white chocolate myself.

I was thinking of adding pudding - I was just trying to follow that choc. recipe and the only way I could think of making it vanilla was to substitute a powder - but cocoa powder has it's own little properties to it and I don't want to bake a cake that's going to come out nasty (even if it is for practice, I just don't want to waste the time if someone can tell me it won't work). The powdered creamer is a good idea...... again I wonder about the "chemical makeup" of the different powders..... I"m no scientist, but I know that when baking changing even a tiny thing can ruin a recipe......... anyone else???? help!

Or does anyone have a really moist from scratch vanilla recipe? I tried the vanilla bride's cake from this site but it turned out dry..... maybe something else went wrong w/ it?

If you add pudding, can you just add it or do you need to subtract or add another ingredient if it is a scratch cake?

That recipe is the Hershey's "perfectly chocolate" chocolate cake. You are right it is a good one- I like their black magic cake a tad better but there isn't much difference. White cake- vanilla- is a whole new bucket of worms. At present I am using the Gourmet magazine one posted at Foodtv.com as classic white cake. Most white cakes have you beat the egg white seperately, and use cake flour for a more delicate crumb. The classic white cake doesn't so it is a bit more dense. The crumb is similar to the chocolate.

when you make white cake though, does it have a vanilla flavor or do you add something to it to make it more vanilla? I think white cake has a flavor all it's own........

Humm... the flavor in a white cake is normally vanilla although some white cakes do have almond and vanilla. You want a strong vanilla flavor .... First, do you use real vanilla or artficial? Use the real thing. I use Mexican vanilla rather than madagascar because I like the harsher or bolder flavor. There are double strength Vanillas out there, you might consider using that. I have never used vanilla paste both single and double strength, but you might try one of those to get an intense vanilla flavor to things. Here's a thought, make vanilla sugar split a bean srcape out the seeds chop the pod in shorter lengths and mix the seeds and pod into 4 cups of sugar. Seal and allow it to set for a week or so remove the pod pieces and use the sugar and vanilla extract in the cake

well i'm trying it with some pudding right now.... but the vanilla bean idea w/ the sugar is good..... I saw vanilla powder, vanilla paste, and vanilla beans, and madagascar bourbon vanilla today at the liquor store (strange place to find these ingredients -but they have a gourmet section). I'm sticking w/ some powder and some regular "pure" vanilla extract..... not tahitian, madagascar, or mexican.... just what you get at the grocery. I'll let you know how it all tastes!

Okay so I made it w/ the pudding measured out like the cocoa for the choc. cake.......... it came out tasting pretty good but was very um.... "wet"? It was just very dense and moist but a little too moist - almost like it was undercooked - although I know it wasn't - it was in the oven for probably 45 min. and it was only a 6 in. layer! And it wasn't really overcooked b/c it wasn't burnt or dry or anything....... I know the dark choc. one came out VERY moist as well - but I guess that's okay w/ chocolate..... my mom and I both liked the tastes, but I don't want anyone to think I'm feeding them mushy, undercooked cake and that's the impression I got w/ eating it (although I couldn't stop eating it - I kinda like things left a little doughy like that - like the top of banana bread where the mushy part is... mmmmmm yummy). So I just tried a white cake mix last night and added a tablespoon of vanilla and vanilla pudding - still didnt come out w/ the rich vanilla taste I wanted....... it just seems impossible to find a GOOD vanilla cake recipe that has a good taste and is moist! I'll keep working on it though!

Finding a great white/vanilla cake recipe is very hard- Good luck.