? For Scratch Bakers Re: Chocolate Cake Recipe Preferences
Decorating By confectionsofahousewife Updated 14 Apr 2011 , 7:36pm by LindaF144a
Kger - I'm curious. What kind of coffee, cocoa and unsweetened chocolate did you use? I used top shelf of all of those, and I did not get bland.
My DD said her coworkers went nuts when they had these. People were sneaking into her cubicle and taking them while she was gone and then sending her emails telling her how good they were. One guy actually went out for a Dr. appointment and came back with a thermos of milk and had two cupcakes. I'm surprised your cake tasted so bland. Another guy told me I needed to open a bakery so he could come every day and get these. I have yet to get this good a reaction to the cupcakes I have sent to work with my DD. I send them there to work and demand honest feedback, which I have gotten in the past. This one got nothing but great reviews.
Now I'm beginning to think that the kind of ingredients I use does make a difference. And no I didn't put bourbon in it either.
Kger - I'm curious. What kind of coffee, cocoa and unsweetened chocolate did you use? I used top shelf of all of those, and I did not get bland.
I am surprised too. But we all have different taste buds 
. I have never gotten bland either and I am using the cocoa/oil mixture. My cocoa is bought in bulk from what I would compare to an Amish store. Neither have "brand names" just 3 oz of regular and 1 oz of black per a single recipe and it also has rave reviews. I do say that I almost always use the bourbon but the few times I made it without I was not sorry.
There are so many different chocolate products though, be it cocoa or blocks, there has to be varying tastes. Sometimes cost counts but in my case my cocoas are nicely priced and taste terrific!
Kger - I hope once your are filled and iced you and your friends will enjoy this cake.
I like Hershey's Chocolatetown Special Cake recipe from their cookbook and website:
http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=5161&page=1&per=25&keyword=chocolatetown special cake&omnituresearch=true&rectypecat=
Here's the Sylvia Weinstock Classic Yellow: http://homecooking.about.com/od/cakerecipes/r/blc13.htm
and here's the Chocolate Stout: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Stout-Cake-107105
I will say that my coffee (folgers), cocoa (Hershey's), and unsweetened chocolate (Bakers) are rather blah by themselves, but I'm telling you, I can find Dutch Process NO WHERE! I have been to every supermarket, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and World Market. I found some Valrhona chocolate bars at Trader Joes but they are sweetened, so I'm hanging on to them for now. The Folger's and Bakers are what I had on hand. For the Sat. party, I think good ingredients would be wasted on these people because it's a Costco cake kind of crowd. It's for my great-niece's first birthday, so I volunteered to make her a fabulous cake. I'm even going to use a doctored mix for one part of it (3D bear pan) because my first attempt yesterday using the Elvis Presley Pound Cake: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Elvis-Presleys-Favorite-Pound-Cake-232642 left me with a headless bear. Normally, I would try again, because it KILLS me to use a mix, but honestly, on these people, I don't care.
But you guys are totally right, that premium ingredients would help with the flavor. But this seems to be a dark chocolate kind of cake, and I think I prefer sweeter as a personal preference. Also, don't forget I'm eating this plain. BC or ganache may take it to a whole other level.
I used Ghirardelli unsweetened chocolate and Peet's coffee. Peet's is all I have in the house being my DH is a total coffee snob. That is the one thing in life wants to enjoy, a good cup of coffee.
I also was watching America's Test Kitchen DVD on Best baking recipe. They did a taste test of unsweetened cocoa. Baker's chocolate scored dead last. The best that one could get commonly in a store was Nestle's. I'm lucky I can get Ghirardelli here.
I didn't do Suzi's variation. I used 5 ounces of unsweetened chocolated melted instead. I have no idea if that makes a difference, but I wanted to to stay true to the original recipe first before I changed it.
The only thing I would change is to try semi-sweet chocolate.
This technique does NOT work for all recipes. I just tried it making a red velvet by swapping out some ingredients and adding others. I have 2 dozen smooshes sitting in front of me right now.
Darn, I thought I had found the secret to great cupcakes. But sadly this is not it.
They did a taste test of unsweetened cocoa. Baker's chocolate scored dead last.
It figures--Baker's is the one I usually use. Guess I'll have to switch.
Here's the Sylvia Weinstock Classic Yellow:
this seems to be a dark chocolate kind of cake, and I think I prefer sweeter as a personal preference. Also, don't forget I'm eating this plain. BC or ganache may take it to a whole other level.
Thanks for the recipe links!
This cake is only dark if you want it to be that way....I am a dark chocolate fan so I go for adding the the black which is unnecessary. I have made it with all plain Hersheys and all Hersheys dark. I like all of them but the part regular with the black suits me best.
If you like this recipe and want the sweet to shine through maybe you can try subing some of the coffee with milk and try and find dutch cocoa some where. The coffee definatley adds to the "darkness" of the chocolate flavor in my opinion, maybe even scale back on the coffee and sub with water.
Where are you located?
Sorry I see you are in VA......would you like me to ship you some??? I really would.
Question- I think someone told me or I read on the forums that Hershey's Special dark will give you a dark icing, almost black. I added almost a whole can and it was only a tad darker than my regular chocolate color. Has anyone tried this or can anyone tell me a different way without using lots of color to get a darker brown? Sorry it's off the subject of the chocolate cake.
Question 2- I noticed little "pockets" of white (dry ingredients) rose up in my batter, and I also noticed my batter was VERY bubbly in all the test cakes I made. It's never done either of these things before. Then I noticed that my Baking soda was expired, could it have caused these things to happen?
Question- I think someone told me or I read on the forums that Hershey's Special dark will give you a dark icing, almost black. I added almost a whole can and it was only a tad darker than my regular chocolate color. Has anyone tried this or can anyone tell me a different way without using lots of color to get a darker brown? Sorry it's off the subject of the chocolate cake.
Not sure about question two but on occassion I do get a few specks of flour that did not mix in completely and since the recipe I follow does not mix the flour and cocoa while dry this causes the white (flour) spots if not mixed enough, not sure about the bubbles.
Question one though - you should search out black cocoa. I originally started getting it at King Author Flour online but I think it is exspensive. I then found black cocoa at a farmers type store and also at Swanns Pantry in their bulk section for a very reasonable price. It is BLACK and even a little will darken your cake or icing but if you use too much it can be bitter so I use 1/4 of the measurement as black and the other 3/4 of the measurement for the cocoa called for in the recipe. I love it and have never looked back since finding it.
Oh Suzi, that's so sweet of you to offer! I'm still determined to find it here though. I live in DC for crying out loud. It has to be here somewhere! I have a few more places I can check and I can order online if I need to.
I will try the recipe again, but will use Dutch process and some semi-sweet valrhona and some fine hazelnut coffee. Would buttermilk be any good here in this recipe or is it too acidic?
Question- I think someone told me or I read on the forums that Hershey's Special dark will give you a dark icing, almost black. I added almost a whole can and it was only a tad darker than my regular chocolate color. Has anyone tried this or can anyone tell me a different way without using lots of color to get a darker brown? Sorry it's off the subject of the chocolate cake.
Question 2- I noticed little "pockets" of white (dry ingredients) rose up in my batter, and I also noticed my batter was VERY bubbly in all the test cakes I made. It's never done either of these things before. Then I noticed that my Baking soda was expired, could it have caused these things to happen?
I made the chocolate buttercream with the Hersheys Special Dark Buttercream, it didn't make it dark at all. I am also looking for a dark chocolate looking buttercream, like fudgey, like the glossy fudgey icing on some store cakes, LOL! Ganache just isn't the same. I love that fudge! LOL!
Oh Suzi, that's so sweet of you to offer! I'm still determined to find it here though. I live in DC for crying out loud. It has to be here somewhere! I have a few more places I can check and I can order online if I need to.
I will try the recipe again, but will use Dutch process and some semi-sweet valrhona and some fine hazelnut coffee. Would buttermilk be any good here in this recipe or is it too acidic?
kger -
Be careful using semi-sweet. I just read in Bakewise that if you substitute semi-sweet in a recipe that calls for unsweetened you have to use twice as much chocolate to get the same amount of chocolate that would be in unsweetened. That is because of the sugar added. You probably have to cut down on the sugar too.
Seeing how you use Baker's, I would suggest a good quality unsweetened chocolate first. I believe this recipe has the high ratio of sugar to flour because it calls for unsweetened. If you use that and maybe a stronger coffee than Folgers, you will probably get the wow factor you want to get.
I too thought about buttermilk. The problem is you can't heat buttermilk, it separates. But you could try 1 cup of coffee and 1 cup of buttermilk (assuming you omited the bourbon and are using 2 cups instead of 1 3/4) and heat up just the coffee and melt the chocolate and butter in that. Then once it is cooled to room temperature you can mix it with the buttermilk.
If you do this, let me know. I would love to know the outcome.
Question- I think someone told me or I read on the forums that Hershey's Special dark will give you a dark icing, almost black. I added almost a whole can and it was only a tad darker than my regular chocolate color. Has anyone tried this or can anyone tell me a different way without using lots of color to get a darker brown? Sorry it's off the subject of the chocolate cake.
Question 2- I noticed little "pockets" of white (dry ingredients) rose up in my batter, and I also noticed my batter was VERY bubbly in all the test cakes I made. It's never done either of these things before. Then I noticed that my Baking soda was expired, could it have caused these things to happen?
I made the chocolate buttercream with the Hersheys Special Dark Buttercream, it didn't make it dark at all. I am also looking for a dark chocolate looking buttercream, like fudgey, like the glossy fudgey icing on some store cakes, LOL! Ganache just isn't the same. I love that fudge! LOL!
Nice to know I'm not the only one looking for this. I can tell you not to try the dark chocolate recipe in MS cupcake book. It is nothing but butter and chocolate with a little powdered sugar and not what I am looking for at all.
If I find one, I'll be sure to post here. But in the meantime if anybody else finds one, please post. Before I got into scratch baking I used to sue the dark chocolate fudge canned frosting all the time. We all love that here and I would like to find a scratch recipe like that. I read the ingredients and it is sugar, chocolate, shortening and corn syrup. I'm going to try and play with that combo and see what I can get. Not right away, but sometime in the next two weeks.
Have you tried melting some chocolate and folding it into the buttercream?
This one adds a cup of hot fudge topping: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Fudge-Buttercream-Frosting/Detail.aspx
This one has unsweetened chocolate: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Carolines-Chocolate-Fudge-Frosting/Detail.aspx
This one is made with cream cheese: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Cream-Cheese-Frosting-2/Detail.aspx
Have you tried melting some chocolate and folding it into the buttercream?
This one adds a cup of hot fudge topping: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Fudge-Buttercream-Frosting/Detail.aspx
This one has unsweetened chocolate: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Carolines-Chocolate-Fudge-Frosting/Detail.aspx
This one is made with cream cheese: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Cream-Cheese-Frosting-2/Detail.aspx
Kelly,
Thanks for the links. I'll check them out and try some. I have been internet hunting for recipes. And these look perfect!
I've been looking for a good chocolately egg free recipe to make cupcakes to accompany the wedding cake im making. I'd really appreciate it x
Eve,
Now this recipe I have only used as cupcakes not cake so I vouch only for cupcakes. Should you make it as cake please post results!
Here is the recipe. These dome so nicely. Hope you like it.
Dump and Stir Chocolate Cake
adapted from In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tbl. canola oil
1 tbl. white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 packet Starbucks Via Instant coffee or 2 tsp instant coffee
1 cup cool water
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, and baking soda in an 8×8 (or 9×9 reduce baking time by 5-7 minutes) pan. Add the remaining ingredients then stir to combine.
Place the pan into a pre-heated 350* oven for 30 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool. Frost with your favorite icing
Brilliant Suzi. Thanks. Will report back once i've used it.
Sorry I didn't get updates! Thanks for answering my questions, I have tried melting chocolate it just doesn't get dark enough! I will start looking for black cocoa!
today I tried the Hershey "perfectly chocolate" recipe, and after filling the pans only 1/2 full, it ran over the pan terribley and stuck even worse???
any idea what I might have done wrong??
and I checked my cocoa, it's a mixture of natural and Dutch?? anyone heard of this, and how will this affect recipes??
I am trying a modified version of the epicurious recipe today. As per Linda and someone else (sorry, I can't remember who) I am going to add two extra eggs and subtract half a cup of sugar. I have to carve a '57 thunderbird and a triceratops this week. Both chocolate cakes! Hopefully this will make it a little easier. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. I will be baking today so I should be able to taste at least the part that I level off after baking.
Yum! Keep us posted.
Hopefully today I will make chocolate peanut cupcakes. I was hoping to just add some ground peanuts to one of these recipes, but I think they will just sink to the bottom given the thinness of the batter. So I'm going to add some to another recipe and see what I get.
My DH wants to take cupcakes to work as a thank you for someone. I hope I can figure this out before the week is over!
i have tried and tried i think almost all these recipes...maybe not the last one. Guess I'll have to give that a go. But NONE have worked in a cupcake. I've done the Hershey recipe and even modified it, but I don't get consistent results. I sub'd in buttermilk and coffee and got a nice little dome and great texture-thought FINALLY! Then did it again a few days later...nope. Nothing. Flat cupcakes. I'm so frustrated. I cringe when people order chocolate cake/cupcakes. It's maddening when it works one day and then not the next.
Linda I know if you roll stuff in flour before you add it to the batter it helps the sinking but I think you may be right given how thin the batters all were!
On another note- I made Skye's cake and the Hershey cake into an alternating 4 layer cake with whipped ganache and my friend said everyone at the party loved it!
I have to carve a '57 thunderbird and a triceratops this week. Both chocolate cakes!
OFF TOPIC.....your carvings are amazing...mind sharing any secrets? What do you use to get your shape? Do you start with the bottom view (maybe more like the outline) or what? How do you invision so that you know where to carve? Any pointers would be appreciated. I have carved cakes but only to make them more angular; never into a car or an animal.
I have to carve a '57 thunderbird and a triceratops this week. Both chocolate cakes!
OFF TOPIC.....your carvings are amazing...mind sharing any secrets? What do you use to get your shape? Do you start with the bottom view (maybe more like the outline) or what? How do you invision so that you know where to carve? Any pointers would be appreciated. I have carved cakes but only to make them more angular; never into a car or an animal.
Thanks Suzi! I haven't done a ton of carving really. I got a few really great pointers from Doug and CakeDiosa when I did the pick up truck in my photos. That was my first vehicle cake. I know what you mean about invisioning where to carve! Its hard especially because I have some trouble with spatial relationships. The cars are actually not too hard because you use a template to carve. The triceratops I will just have to wing it. Getting symmetry is the hardest part. With a car, you use either blue prints or, if you have a model, pictures to make a template. Blow it up to the size you need, and use it as a carving guide. That at least gets you the rough shape. Some of the details you still just have to look at a photo and wing it! After I did the pick up truck cake, I ordered Mike McCareys car cakes dvd. It is very helpful also. There are so many steps and sometimes its hard to know what order to do them in so I found his dvd very helpful. If you want to know more or have any specific questions let me know! I would be happy to give you more pointers (but don't want to be overhwelming)!
Getting ready to mix up the chocolate cakes!
I have to carve a '57 thunderbird and a triceratops this week. Both chocolate cakes!
OFF TOPIC.....your carvings are amazing...mind sharing any secrets? What do you use to get your shape? Do you start with the bottom view (maybe more like the outline) or what? How do you invision so that you know where to carve? Any pointers would be appreciated. I have carved cakes but only to make them more angular; never into a car or an animal.
I second that! just had a peak at them. Wow!
I used a betty crocker mix today to try the 3d/durable recipe because it seemed so tried and tested and I need to carve a bottle cake this week. It was revolting. Cant even describe the taste, but needless to say I'll be sticking with scratch in the future. Made the Hershey cake a few times now and love it but cant imagine carving it.
Suzi, I think I'm going to go for the coco loco cake instead. Will be baking it on Wednesday or Thursday and carving on Friday so I'll let you know how it went.
housewife,
Your little yellow truck is terrific! Looks just like a Tonka my son had when he was a toddler.
Wow! Confections, Ditto what everyone has said your trucks are great!
Are you using the epicurious with the egg additrns ion? Let us know how it turns out!
Wow! Confections, Ditto what everyone has said your trucks are great!
Are you using the epicurious with the egg additrns ion? Let us know how it turns out!
Yep! I added two eggs and subtracted half a cup of sugar. A 9x13 is in the oven right now. I'm a little worried though because usually I use a flower nail but forgot to put it in this time 
Hope it turns out okay! I couldn't tell any difference in the batter when mixing.
And thanks for the compliments everyone! You guys are too sweet!
OK it baked up really nice! It rose better than it does when made as written (we're talking epicurious recipe here). No sinking in the middle! Hopefully it will taste ok. I want it to still have that dark, almost black color. It looks virtually the same from the outside aside from the fact that it domed up instead of sinking. I am baking two 8 inch rounds right now. Those are the ones that always spill over in my oven. Hopefully not this time! Stay tuned for the taste!
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