Hi all,

I already posted in cake disasters but hopefully someone here can help. Ok, so the good news is I apparently can make one heck of a moist chocolate cake. The bad news is, after attempting 3 different recipes I can't get a good moist rich recipe that will BOTH torte and stack up tall for a tiered cake design. The cakes are heavenly, but too soft for this purpose. One recipe was not chocolatey enough but definetely dense enough, one fell apart as I torted it, and one--the best one using an old fashioned double chocolate cake recipe from Barefoot Contessa--was divine in taste but too soft and spongy to work.

So I have spent 2 days on 3 different cake recipes and I'm frustrated as can be. Does anyone have a great rich moist recipe for a chocolate cake that can hold the weight of torting and fondant and stacking (I know to use dowels, but these cakes are too soft to have that help)? Or, any ideas for making my decadent Barefoot COntessa cake a bit more sturdy?

Thanks a bunch!

have you tried freezing the cake first? Even overnight it makes a difference, I notice my cakes are sturdier after, hth.

Not sure if you are opposed to using a doctored box mix, but I love using this recipe for tiered cakes (actually, its the only one I use for tiered):

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6093-1-Durable-Cake-for-3D-in-Chocolate.html

I also recommend freezing first. If you're not okay with freezing for 1 day prior, then just toss the cake into the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up. It does wonders!!!

Use this one its my favorite and hold very well refridgerate and you will be fine
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2284-Chocolate-Layer-Cake---grooms-cake.html

There is a reciipe on here called Darn Good Chocolate Cake and THAT it is!!! I have made it several times and is now my choc. cake of choice by alot of my clients.
Just an FYI on the recipe is says the Hershey syrup is optional and I always use 1/2 milk and 1/2 syrup. For the butter I use 1/2 butter and 1/2 oil.
This is a somewhat of a dense cake that I have stacked and carved without any problems. Oh and did I mention OHHHH so yummy!

The Double Chocolate Layer Cake from epicurious.com is really good and holds up fine to torting.. I use it all the time and I torte all of my cakes.

The Chocolate Stout Cake (the one without the prunes) from there is really good too and nice and firm and moist.

I second the Darn Good Chocolate Cake (it's from the Cake Mix Doctor) and if you freeze it for just a bit, even like they said in the pp, for 15 min. it does wonders. I made that cake, torted it, filled with choc. ganache, covered in choc. ganache & then topped with tons of caramel and pecans and it worked amazing! Plus the taste is choc. heaven

I always torte my cakes when they cool to the touch and then wrap them up and pop the in the fridge before I move them around too much.. it firms up the butter in them and makes the super easy to handle. I can pick up a torted layer (a tad less than an inch tall) or a 10" vanilla butter cake with one hand. not all cakes will behave like that, but chilling them makes them SO much easier to handle. Using a cake board to move them around helps too with more delicate cakes.

Wow thank you all so much! This is really helpful advice and great recipes. I knew I turned to the right place for help!