What Coco Powder Does Everyone Use & Cake Flour ?'s
Decorating By Miksadie Updated 19 Aug 2008 , 1:44am by sugarcheryl
I am interested in hearing what coco powders everyone uses. I bought Confetti Cakes book which I LOVE!!! In a recipe she says you high-quality cocoa powder but not sure what she means. Is Hershe's high-quality...
Also she says use cake flour. Is this the same thing as all-purpose flour? I tried to find it and there was not any.
Thanks for all the help. This website is invaluable to me as a newbie!!!
Mikki
www.funder5.blogspot.com
www.scentsy.com/mikki
I like Hershey Special Dark, which contains dutch processed cocoa. (It's also great for achieving black royal icing). Recently, I stopped at the store to pick up a can to make a simple chocolate frosting and I noticed Ghirardelli's Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa. There's a recipe on the can for chocolate frosting and let me tell you...it's wonderful! It has a smooth taste and subtle mocha flavor to it. It is sweetened, so you would need to adjust any recipes that call for sugar.
http://shop.ghirardelli.com/product-exec/product_id/189/nm/Sweet_Ground_Chocolate_and_Cocoa
Softassilk is the cake four that is most commonly seen in grocery stores. It is sold in a box. It looks kind of like an over sized box of cake mix. I normally use Hershey's cocoa and it's good. Be careful with using cocoa powder though. If a recipe calls for dutch process, make sure you use dutch and don't sub with regular. I don't remember exactly how it works, but it affects the leavening. Dutch reacts differently with baking soda than baking powder. Maybe someone else can explain it better. Hope this helps!
I use Hershey's cocoa and either Pillsbury's Soft-as-Silk or Swans Down cake flour.
Has anyone tried using cake flour in the WASC recipe?
Ironic you should ask... I am going to try that tonight.. I prefer cake flour, and thought I would give the infamous WASC one more chance 
to prove itself it me... I will give the results tomorrow...
I do just about the same as jasmine33, but my substitution instruction in Better Homes & Gardens cookbook doesn't mention cornstarch...I'll try that once and see.
As for cocoa, living in Holland, I can only use Dutch cocoa, hehe. I use the Blooker brand, works wonderfully!
I use Swans Down cake flour. For cocoa I use Hersheys special dark. Haven't seen the Ghirardelli at my store but I will keep my eyes peeled for it!
Has anyone tried using cake flour in the WASC recipe?
Ironic you should ask...
I am going to try that tonight.. I prefer cake flour, and thought I would give the infamous WASC one more chance to prove itself it me... I will give the results tomorrow...
exactly my thinking! Let us know how it turns out!
I used Hershey's Regular Cocoa Powder and their Special Dark as well. I used to use Swan's Down Cake Flour since that is the only flour I could find in my area, but I became a member of a foodservice supplier who carries the huge bags of Purasnow (Foodservice version of Softasilk), and I love using it much more so then the Swan's Down!
All purpose flour and cake flour are different. The major difference is the gluten levels. The lower the gluten level is the more delicate the texture of the end product. Cake flour has a very low gluten level plus it is very finely milled. Actually they are made from different varieties of wheat. Cake, pastry, and bread flours are the basic types; all purpose flour can be used in place of the different types, which is why it is called all purpose. I use Swansdown when cake flour is called for in a recipe and all purpose if the recipe just asks for flour.
I use Hersey's Cocoa and skip the recipes that ask for dutch processed cocoa simply because I don't have any in my pantry. I also use Ghirardelli's products when I can find them.[/quote]
Has anyone tried using cake flour in the WASC recipe?
Ironic you should ask...
I am going to try that tonight.. I prefer cake flour, and thought I would give the infamous WASC one more chance to prove itself it me... I will give the results tomorrow... exactly my thinking! Let us know how it turns out!
Ok, I think I am happy with this one 
I made the whole recipe, using 8 oz cake flour (softasilk), and a commercial grade white cake mix (Gold Metal, or GFS brand is fine).... It has a very tender crumb, almost the texture of a sponge cake; flavor is good.. It passes the test this time.. 
Note; I sifted all the dry ingredients in one bowl, and mixed all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl; then added the dry to the wet, and mixed 2 mins/med speed... Baked at 325F
Narie's right about the difference in the flours. Here's a site that explains it more:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/FlourTypes.htm
I love the way cake flour gives cakes a softer crumb than AP flour.
I like a half/half mixture of ghiradelli's unsweetened cocoa and cocoa from the bulk bins at my local whole foods store. I use swans down and softasilk and i couldn't tell much of a difference between the brands.
Ok, I think I am happy with this one
I made the whole recipe, using 8 oz cake flour (softasilk), and a commercial grade white cake mix (Gold Metal, or GFS brand is fine).... It has a very tender crumb, almost the texture of a sponge cake; flavor is good.. It passes the test this time.. Note; I sifted all the dry ingredients in one bowl, and mixed all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl; then added the dry to the wet, and mixed 2 mins/med speed... Baked at 325F[/i]
So it probably wouldn't work well for wedding cakes, but it sounds like it would be nice for lighter cakes?
I tried cake flour once (Softasilk) and wasn't happy with the results. I like my cakes dense and it wasn't that way. Back to AP for me.
In pastry school they teach us to use certain product like high quality cocoa you do not get from the grocery store its from perhaps speciality stores and more and likely from online if not in your area. Albert Uster Imports. There is a difference and the look also than from Hershey. I would go with Ghiradelli we used there chocolates. There is different from cake flour and ap flour. Cake flour is softer than ap. Me personally like cake flour the texture of the cake I use Swans because that's what sells in my area. Again in pastry school we learn to use cake flour in most of our cake recipes.
I tried cake flour once (Softasilk) and wasn't happy with the results. I like my cakes dense and it wasn't that way. Back to AP for me.
I use Toba Garrets yellow cake recipe..you should try it sometime, it comes out with a wonderful crumb!!! Not super duper dense, but still very buttery tasting.
So it probably wouldn't work well for wedding cakes, but it sounds like it would be nice for lighter cakes?
I think it would work fine in wedding cakes; I would carve with this one also.. It is a tender crumb, but it is dense as well.. would definately stack nicely.. I am storing some and freezing some to see how long it stays fresh, and reacts to freezing..
In school we used Toba's recipe for our wedding cake final. I used it before going to school I find it great for wedding cakes. It's not dense but it can hold the weight of other tiers. It's light.
When I use cake flour, it's Softassilk primarily because that's what I can get locally. Ironically, I mostly use it for a cookie recipe that I make (mudslides) - for most of my cakes, I use AP flour.
Regarding cocoa, there's a recent convo here http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-599343.html that has some good recommendations and info.
One of the things I do is when I'm out of the area that I live, I always try and stop in any gourmet grocery stores to check out their baking sections. (Hersheys - and not even the dark - is the ONLY brand I can buy locally). Cocoa is one of the things I always look for, to see if they have a different brand I want to try You never know what you're going to run across! Of course, I have 5 different brands in my cupboard right now...
[quote="Edit"]Sugarcheryl, did you use simple syrup on Toba's yellow cake recipe? Sometimes I do if I just want to give an extra kick. Or if I kept the cake in a little longer than I should have yes so it won't be so dry.
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