Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake Lovers....

Baking By tullicious Updated 28 Apr 2011 , 9:10pm by rsquared02

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tullicious Posted 26 Apr 2011 , 8:56pm
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Please help.... I am in the process of baking layers for a wedding cake for next weekend. I have been using (and loving) the Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake recipe for years. Never had a problem, and it always comes out perfect. Today I attempted to bake a 14" round. Baked it at 325 for 58 minutes (I think) and the cake tester came out clean and it bounced back just great. Then I took it out and it fell in the middle! I always have a perfect 2 inch tall layer. Well not today. Any advice? I have read sometime before that sometimes you need less leavening in larger recipes? Could that be it? If anyone has done larger tiers with this recipe I would greatly appreciate some help. Thanks!

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TexasSugar Posted 26 Apr 2011 , 8:59pm
post #2 of 7

Did you use a heating core or a flower nail in he center?

I'd cut the cake in half and see how down it is. Chances are if it feel it is probably not completely cooked in the middle. That is one of the things about larger cakes is that the outsides are done before the centers are and that is why it is suggest to use a heating core of some sort.

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indydebi Posted 27 Apr 2011 , 12:58am
post #3 of 7

or baking strips. LUV the baking strips.

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scp1127 Posted 27 Apr 2011 , 1:59am
post #4 of 7

There have been suggestions on here before. Use less BP and sub sour cream for the buttermilk. Use flower nails or core, and baking strips are a must. I use this cake too. Sometimes it fell, so I did the subbing and it helped. By the way, adding espresso powder to the water is delicious. Hershey's calls it Black Magic Cake.

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tullicious Posted 27 Apr 2011 , 8:30pm
post #5 of 7

thanks for the replies. but yep, i used the flower nail and the baking strips. i always use both religiously. my wasc layers came out beautiful, but the chocolate is a little short. guess i'm still stumped. i will torte it and see how the middle looks though. if i still can't get a full 2 inch layer, is it ok to have the bottom tier a little shorter? i would hate to do that, but do you have any other suggestions? my first wedding cake if you haven't guessed. icon_smile.gif

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ConfectionsCC Posted 27 Apr 2011 , 8:53pm
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why not trim down the top of your top tier to match the bottom tier? Or, if its really bad, try adding a 3rd layer on the bottom! The outside will be covered with icing and decoration, so no one will know! I am pretty sure no one will question if the bottom tier has 3 layers and top only has two! I use the hershey recipe, only I use buttermilk instead of regular milk, and I use 2 teaspoons BS and 1 tsp BP! it rises soooo much better than the original recipe! I can easily make a 3in high 6in cake with only 2 cups of batter! I had to do some adjusting on batter amounts after changing the recipe! I also like the fluffier cake it gave me!

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rsquared02 Posted 28 Apr 2011 , 9:10pm
post #7 of 7

This happened to me too! I found that if you bake it a bit longer, it won't fall. When it SEEMS done, bake it for another 15 minutes or so. I just kept a close eye on it to make sure the edges weren't burning.

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