I have really enjoyed reading about the scratch-off for yellow cake, and participated in the scratch-off for white cake. But they are old and I can't be the only one who would like to start another one?

I know this is a busy season, plus many can be away on vacations. So if there is interest but not enough time at the moment I will just have to be patient and wait.

But I would love if there is anyone else out there who would like to try out some recipes a little bit sooner. Don't we all (esp. scratch bakers) keep looking out for recipes that can prove to be even more delicious than the ones we currently use?

Thanks!

I'd love to - personally I'm board of the white cake quest - OOOHHH!!! How about a mud cake bake-off? Aussie all-stars Bluehue and Evor shared their mud recipes, I've never had or seen one so that could be lots of fun!

Or maybe we could try to make challenging cakes like a a genoise? Those are hard and there are a billion variations?

Just a thought.

Jen

Oh, how fun!

The last scratch-off that I remember was in the fall of 2010. The plan was to try a new flavor every month. But we only got to do two months (spice cake and white cake).
I'm wondering if every other month would be a better idea.

I LOVE your idea of doing mud cake for the first scratch-off. In the recent thread where Bluehue shared her recipes, I know many were excited to try them. So that would actually be great if we all got together in a search for the ultimate mud cake.
I have never made a mud cake but I'm guessing there are lots of flavors to chose from. Maybe we should focus on just one flavor per scratch-off? Chocolate? (only because that's what I think of first when I hear mud cake...)

I would love to do the mud cake. Can't do anything for this month, but I'm totally in for next month.

Maybe we can combine "Baking School With The Aussies" with "Scratch-off" to learn to make their mud cakes and post what they are like along side how it compares to our comparable go-to scratch recipes. i.e. chocolate mud to chocolate oil cake, chocolate mud to chocolate butter cake, vanilla mud (assuming there is one) to vanilla butter cake. How many variations of mud are there? List the mud, post the recipes for them, pick which one you want to try, bake it up and post results along side whatever your similar recipe is. Make sense?

When we are done we can have "Baking School with the Yanks" and have them make buttercream. LOL

Don't want to hijack the original intent here, I'd just love to try something new with you gals.

I've made a mud cake in the past. In fact I make it a lot. I love it so much I just can't bring myself to make a traditional chocolate cake.

Enjoy, it will be you go to cake after you are done.

I have a question for all you mud cakers down under. Many, many, many years ago i came across a recipe in either Bon appetit or Gourmet magazine for what was called "Austrailian Mud Cake" which I've since lost. This was not your ordinary cake. It had a meringue base layer with broken up saltine crackers mixed in with the egg white. Then a layer of rich chocolate cake on top of that. It was made in a springform pan.

I've contacted both magazines, neither of which have archives going back that far (25 years.) Does this cake sound familiar to anyone? Is it a traditional cake in Australia, or just the invention of a cooking magazine?

this sounds like fun. i can't wait to see what you all decide to do. i'm on a scratch cake kick. no more boxes for me(yet ) so, i would love to try out new recipes.

August 1st sounds good to start researching for me. I won't be making it until the 3rd week of August. We can report our results at the end of the month?

sorry this may be a silly question (newbie here )
do you not have mud cakes in the US? what do you use for all your chocolate cake orders then, just a chocolate butter cake or something similar to mud?

edited to write - would love a scratch-off too

LOL Fruit cake is mostly a Christmas joke here - NOBODY makes or eats fruit cake. Well, nobody I know. But I think your fruit cake and our fruit cakes are totally different. They must be, because the only fruit cake I've ever had was one of the most disgusting things I've ever eaten Surely yours must be better!

Ok Freckles, you have my curosity about the caramel mud cake. Would you share your recipe? I am very interested in cakes from other parts of the world, and I would love to try some. I've never been involved in a scratch-off, but I'm a big fan of the results. I'm in on this one.

You'll find mud cakes behave really differently to butter cakes, this will be so interesting for the mud cake virgins! In Australia, mud cakes seem to be 'normal', sponge cakes are also commonplace, butter cakes are not so common. And of course ganache goes perfectly with mudcake, buttercream is not so commonly used. I only made my first chocolate mudcake recently, before that I had only made caramel.

This is the recipe that many australian cakers seems to swear by, and in fact the creator is a member here on CC, hopefully she'll see this thread at some stage and pop in
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/14688/pams-chocolate-mudcake

When I say they behave differently, I mean that the batter is VERY runny, like liquid runny. That's because it contains a lot of melted chocolate (as well as cocoa powder) which sets later on. The top of mudcakes are prone to cracking like the desert floor, but there are tricks for that too (baking paper over top, or foil tents). Then the handling must be done with care. If you try and take it from the pan as soon as you get it out of the oven, FAIL. It will crack, or the sides will come away. You have to wait for the chocolate to set first. And no putting it in the freezer directly afterwards like many people do with buttercakes, again you must wait for the chocolate to set up. Instead I've learned that brushing the top of the cake with freshly boiled water the instant it is out of the oven is the way to go, it makes the top of the cake amazingly moist. You do that three times (with a break inbetween of about sixty seconds I think....without checking my notes which are on another computer). Then as soon as that's done, lay a piece of plastic wrap over the top and leave it overnight. I was amazed at how moist it makes the top of the cake... love it!

I could go on and on. I asked a lot of questions before I did the chocolate mud cake, and a lot of questions while making the dozen or so caramel mudcakes, so I'm not an expert but have done a lot of recent research so it's fresh in my mind. I hope Pam does come along and contribute, that lady knows a LOT about mud cakes.

These are the other recipes that I see recommended a lot too, people rave about all three of the recipes I've posted the links to, it's hard to choose one:
http://www.exclusivelyfood.com.au/2006/07/chocolate-mud-cake-recipe.html
http://www.how2cakes.com/darkmud.html

Sorry I'm at work but will post a couple of my fave's when I get home or if I find something quickly online similar.

Zespri is right it is a very different batter. Our coffee is different to the US too (i think) so some recipes for muds may just need a bit of adjusting. Pam's recipe is very popular, but I personally don't prefer it over some others but thats me because my family and friends really like it - i think its the coffee (i know people love coffee for the chocolate to be inhanced in flavour, but I prefer some added Tia Maria (which is a coffee flavour anyhow I guess ), I have to try it again though because I was pregnant when i tried it and well my taste bubs were all over the place . She has a few lovely mud recipes including critus white mud and a few others I am yet to try but my mouth waters at when reading through them.

the caramel mud has white chocolate and brown sugar in it instead of dark and caster basically and well no coffee.

haha yeah our fruit cake isn't a cake with a few sultanas in it haha just a tradional wedding fruit (really dense I guess like you christmas cake??)

I'm just a hobby at home baker for family and friends so other Aussies may be more helpful but I'll post what I like anyway when i get home (SO SORRY to take this thread off track xx)

I've been trying to find a good carrot cake for a while. My dad's bday is coming up and he likes Costco (I know, don't even go there). But costco changed their recipe and now they don't even have a cream cheese frosting. So, I have 3 recipes to try. One is an old silver palate, one is from magnolia, and one is a doctored mix although the mix (DH) smells more like pumpkin to me and I can't use the freeze dried carrots or raisins(smells like a Lipton mix really!) so i will have to try to really doctor that one although it wouldn't qualify as scratch. I've made the silver palate twice, but it is very dense - almost like a fruitcake. But people like it. I am going to make Magnolia tomorrow and maybe the doctored mix just because I have it. Will be interesting.

Ok found a good one

Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, chopped
200g white chocolate, chopped coarsely
2¼ cups (450g) firmly packed brown sugar
1½ cups (375ml) water
2 cups (300g) plain flour
2/3 cup (100g) self-raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 eggs, beaten lightly

Caramel Frosting
125g butter, chopped
3/4c - 1 cup (200g) firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
1½ cups (240g) icing sugar mixture

Directions
1. Preheat oven to slow (150°C/130°C fan-forced). Grease deep 22cm-round cake pan; line base and side with baking paper, extending paper 5cm above edge of pan.
2. Combine butter, chocolate, sugar and the water in medium saucepan; stir over low heat until mixture is smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl; cool 15 minutes. Whisk in flours, then essence and eggs.
3. Pour mixture into prepared pan; bake in slow oven about 2 hours. Stand in pan 10 minutes; turn onto wire rack to cool.
4. Place cake, top side up, on serving plate; spread cold cake with caramel frosting.
CARAMEL FROSTING
Melt butter in small saucepan. Stir in brown sugar and milk; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 3 minutes, cool. Gradually stir in icing sugar until frosting is of spreadable consistency.


my input
- springform pans aren't really the best for mud cakes unless you line it well, as batters are quite runny
- i know my recipe at home I add a tbs golden syrup but it may have just a little less brown sugar too (this is added with butter, choc and water)
- our cups and spoons messures are different to the US so its prob best to weigh ingredients if you don't already
- 130 is about about 266 farenheit

This is a great thread. Sharing with people around the world and mastering exotic or old world recipes is just the type of product I love to offer my customers. And I love learning new recipes and techniques.

Cheriej, if you don't like your recipes, I have a few. I have tried the box mix because I try everything to know my market. If you use the decadent one... or whatever it is called, I know a few add-ins that really help. I also have an incredible carrot pumpkin cake. This is the only one I make personally for my family and it's well-liked by clients. I have another but it is a signature line that I will let you know about in a pm.

chocolate mud cake is actually really good ( took me a few times, and talking to some "aussie" friends to get some tips, to make a fabulous one)

Im hoping someone has a caramel mud cake they can share?


Thanks!

Sounds like this is going to be a good thread--I can't wait for all the input!!

ooh what about a Red Velvet bakeoff?

Okay, going to try a chocolate mud cake recipe I found on here tonight. Let you now how it comes out.