I need a delicious chocolate, brownie like cake.
Does anyone have a recipe they could share? It has to be a study cake that can withstand stacking.
thanks!

I've been using Toba Garrett's chocolate fudge cake on epicurious. Last time I made it....got this "MMMmmm, just like a brownie" response.

I use the DH Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix, 4 eggs, 1 c. sour cream, 1/4 cup oil and 1/2 cup chocolate syrup instead of water. Yummy.

I love the Scott Clark Woolley "Fudge Brownie Cake". It is dense and super chocolatey, especially if you use a high quality dutch chocolate which I ALWAYS do. It is quite sturdy and carves well too if frozen first. I have carved it 3x for turvey-style tiers.

Here's a link to the recipe http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-52587-30.html --it's the first post on p.3 of a Hershey's cake thread.

I am pretty sure I bake all of mine at 300 but I couldn't say for sure how long a 12" layer takes. I could practically guarantee that it will be more than an hour, just because a 9" round takes somewhere in the ballpark of an hour. The first one that underbaked was just my very first try, four years ago, before I got the hang of it...I didn't know how to ensure a cake was baked, I just went by the time .

Personally I wouldn't hesitate to bake this for a 6/9/12" cake. If you want to peek in my photos, you will see a 2-tier green cake in the top row; the bottom tier is that recipe (mostly; I used Guinness beer instead of water or coffee) and is a 10" round tapered to 8". It is quite dense (but not so dense to not be like cake!) and holds up well IMO. I do always freeze it as the recipe requests.

You have probably baked your test cake by now so I am curious to see how it went!

Those sound so good!

I'm so hungry right now!!

I do try to fill the pans somewhat full but if you fill them up TOO much, that is when I find the cakes tend to dome. There are fussy things about the recipe (like that) but honestly the taste is SO good I have never wished to bake another kind...and I have tried a LOT of chocolate recipes, including a lot of the all-time favorites around here such as Hershey's cake, Epicurious "double chocolate layer", "darn good" chocolate cake...etc. Can't find one that tastes better than this SCW cake, for me anyway.

Haven't made it yet, ceshell. I'll probably try in over the weekend. I let you know what I think. I guess the toothpick trick doesn't work with this type of cake? Does it separate from the sides of the pan when it starts to get done?
The cake tiers will probably be 14, 11, 8, & 5 rounds. I've never made a 4 tier before.

Nah, actually the toothpick test works just fine. I was just lame (I think I didn't poke it in the absolute center). It does pull away from the sides, just a bit, but not a lot. I have shrinkage problems with some of my white cakes but never with this one.

Oh yeah, you can, but in my case that was the point. I was making an Irish-themed cake and didn't care for the texture of the Guinness Stout cake, which was otherwise quite similar to this cake (way too coarse of a crumb for my liking though.) So I opened up some Stout a few days early to let it go flat, and then used it as the liquid in this recipe. Honestly though, the taste was still subtle, but at least I could say the cake was made with Guinness (with Bailey's filling of course.). But if you don't like beer, it would be silly to use it. Just use water or coffee; you can't taste the coffee if you make it weak.

Thanks! I'll probably stick with coffee.

Yay yay yay yayyyyyyyyyy!! I am so glad you had a good result with the recipe, and that your dome flattened out too . I was so excited to have found such an incredible chocolate cake, I always am eager to share it with others so that they can wallow in the same chocolatey goodness LOL.

You are most welcome and hopefully lecrn will have the same fantastic results!

honeyscake,
What kind of cocoa did you use for ceshell's recipe?

I couldn't tell which Hershey's you used from that link - it just said it was for both the regular and the Dutch processed (i.e. Hershey's Special Dark). I always use Dutch process cocoa for the cake (although I use a different brand). If you use normal everyday Hershey's do let us know the results as I've never seen anyone post results on this cake using regular cocoa.

Okay. I've tried the recipe & tasted:
I used 1 cup natural Hershey's cocoa, 1/2 cup Hershey's dark, & Land'o Lakes butter (that's what I had on hand). I baked the cake in a 9 x 13 pan & used a flower nail. I followed the recipe exactly.
It took the cake 1 hour to bake @ 300. It was frustrating b/c the sides of the cake was done sooner than the middle. I knew that I was over baking the sides so the middle would be done. It did dome & crack as suggested in the recipe. The cake sit all night wrapped in plastic wrap & I tried it this morning.
I tried an end piece first & it was over done. The middle was much, much better! The crumb was nice & it was very moist. I think that it had more of a choc. bitter taste than I'm used to & less sweet. I usually use a doctored choc. mix recipe. My DH tried the cake & he had the same opinion. I probably won't use the recipe for a layered cake b/c I would have to waste so much of the cake when I level
Have you tried to bake the cake @ a higher temp? Used bake even strips? Wonder if adding some baking powder would help it rise?
Maybe it would be less bitter with a better quality cocoa? If yours ain't broke, don't try to fix it!
Anyway, thanks so much for the recipe. I have a few more to try (one scratch & one mix).

Aw rats, I am sorry for the problems you encountered. I have baked it with and without the strips and I must say, it tends to perform better with the strips. I don't know how to help you with the baking time though as I have never experienced that problem...but I always use round pans. 1 hour to bake @ 300 sounds about right so I am surprised to find that your edges were over done. I have never had to trim anything off of this cake except for the occasional dome.

If you can resolve the baking time issues, I would definitely attempt it with dutch process cocoa. You know, the cocoa can affect the baking too, as there is a different ph (acidity) level of alkalized cocoa. I have never found this cake to be bitter, and the last group of people I baked it for called it the best chocolate cake they'd ever eaten...so something is definitely up! I mean, not everyone will like every cake, but if it's kind of bitter, that doesn't match up.

I found the winning recipe!!!
After trying many recipes (scratch & doctored box) I've found what I've been looking for. It's actually a doctored box recipe submitted by cakemommytx here on CC:

TRIPLE CHOC FUDGE CAKE:
1 box BC Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake (w/ mini choco chips)
1 box DH Dark Chocolate Fudge cake
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups sourcream
2 4oz pkg chocolate fudge instant pudding
8 eggs
1 cup veg oil
2 2/3 cup chocolate milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup mini choco chips
Sift dry ingrediants together and then add wet, mix until incorporated and then mix for 2 minutes. Bake at 325 until toothpick comes out clean. You may have to test a few times, sometimes I hit a choco chip and my toothpick comes out all messy.

I halved the recipe using 1/2 of ea mix. I only had sugar-free choc. pudding, so I added 1 cup sugar. I also added 1/4 tsp of salt (b/c of the added sugar). I subbed 1/3 strong black coffee for 1/3 of the choc. milk and used Hershey's dark cocoa and chopped Ghiradelli choc. chips.
I used a 10 x 3 round pan & the cake rose flay all the way to the top without doming or cracks (used flower nail & cake strips). It was so moist & chocolately! It had a great texture that i can use for carving or stacking.

I'm so excited! Thanks everyone for your help. I was hoping for a scratch cake recipe, but this one is going to be hard to beat!