A good chocolate cake recipe...

[andyoxon]

Anyone have a good standard (moist) chocolate cake recipe?   I've just tried making one from a recipe I got of the internet - not the best...

[CrinklyLion]

Mixed measures because that's what I was given.  Recipe came from my sister and specify organic everything and G&B chocolate - I use whatever's to hand though!

Ingredients
    * 6 oz light brown soft sugar
    * 4 oz butter
    * 2 eggs
    * 8 oz self-raising flour
    * 1 1/2 oz cocoa powder
    * 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
    * 100 g dark chocolate
    * 100 ml Water
    * 100 ml Milk (approx)

1 ) weigh and measure it all up, and combine the flour/cocoa powder and baking powder
2 ) beat the eggs
3 ) break the chocolate into pieces, add to the 100ml of boiling water and stir 'til melted. Add most of the milk (I keep a bit back to allow for adjusting the texture if necessary!)
4 ) cream butter and sugar together
5 ) add the eggs - mix quickly to avoid it splitting. If it looks like this may happen, add a little of the flour mix
6 ) add about 1/3 of the flour/cocoa mix and combine well
7 ) add about 1/3 of the chocolate/water/milk and mix
8 ) repeat until all ingredients and mixed in
9 ) divide the mix between 2 8" tins and bake at around 170 for about 35 mins - it should be a bit squidgy.
10 ) cool in the tin for at least half an hour before turning out

Good sandwiched together with jam (strawberry/raspberry/cherry/apricot) and/or wipped cream and topped with either milk chocolate or chocolate ganache.

A double batch makes enough for silly big birthday cakes, ideal for transporting half the length of the country on 4 or 5 separate methods of public transport to gatecrash random YACFers' birthday parties.

Charlotte's pic, from Woolly's party, btw

[andyoxon]

Thanks.   

The one I made with mini - I made the mistake of substituting plain flour + baking soda, with self raising flour only...     Came out more like a brownie.   

[CrinklyLion]

Well, that was the first cake recipe that I tried (since I was a teenager, anyway) because until a few years back I Didn't Do Baking.  But I needed to make the eldest cub's birthday cake one year, because my mum was too poorly to do it, so asked my sister for the most-likely-to-succeed recipe she could suggest!  It was the only cake I ever made for a couple of years, but I've expanded my repertoire a bit of late

[Marj]

Baking cakes - well you need to follow the recipe religiously (unless you a professional)

ingredients need to be weighed

temperatures need to be followed

tin sizes also need to be right for that recipe.

my chocolate cake recipe is as follows

heat the oven 180 deg C/Gas Mark 4  and grease 2 x 18cm sandwich tins (I line them with baking parchment)


200 gram soft butter (I prefer to cook with butter, tastes better)
200 gram caster sugar
4 eggs (beaten together)
200 gram self raising flour-(sifted) - yes I know it's S.R. buts adding more air makes a difference
1 tablespoon cocoa powder- 1 teaspoon baking powder (NOT bicarb)

Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth then add the eggs very slowly, if it start to curdle add a little of the flour, it will instantly bring it back together.

Add the flour, baking powder and cocoa, fold in.

Split between the tins and bake for 25 minutes (If you have a fan assisted oven you will need to check with the manufacturers instructions as these cook quicker and will probably need the temperature reducing slightly).

The filling can be fresh cream, butter cream, or gnache (whatever your preference or perhaps the need not to keep the cake refrigerated).

If we need a chocolate cake that can't be refrigerated I do butter cream and the topping is melted chocolate with a little butter added, icing sugar and a little water and topped with chocolate curls or grated chocolate.

And practise, the more baking you do the better you get.

[andyoxon]

Thanks marj - looks good.    

ingredients need to be weighed

 I think that was my other mistake with the recipe I followed that said 'cups' and we just picked out, well, a cup of random size.

AFAIA, baking powder = bicarb of soda + other stuff, and baking soda = bicarb of soda only.  It's a minefield...  

RE. ingredients... butter vs marge vs sunflower oil in cakes - just a matter of taste?

Cheers rr.

[CrinklyLion]

Thanks marj - looks good.    

ingredients need to be weighed

 I think that was my other mistake with the recipe I followed that said 'cups' and we just picked out, well, a cup of random size.

AFAIA, baking powder = bicarb of soda + other stuff, and baking soda = bicarb of soda only.  It's a minefield...  

RE. ingredients... butter vs marge vs sunflower oil in cakes - just a matter of taste?

Cheers rr.

Listen to the cake-y guru, for she knows well of what she speaks.  Marj makes the only fruit cake ever that I properly really like!

On the butter/marge front I have some recipes that I use one and some where I use the other.  IME cakes made with butter taste better, but it's easier to get a cake made with marge to me light and rise well.  And not using butter means that two of my standard recipes are suitable (or can easily be tweaked to be suitable) for the lactose intolerant.  This is important, since one of the employees in the LBS is lactose intolerant!

[Marj]

I agree that some recipes are actually better with margarine/flora type product,  I guess it's your own taste. Then the lactose intolerant tends to be a challenge. Carrot cake, yummy and made with oil, tastes better after a few days maturing.  Oh and my fruit cake, that will be the boil in the pan one.

Recipes in cups tend to be american and a convertor can be found readily (it's not a cup as in tea cup ).
I tend to go with the tried and tested W.I. recipes, you can't go wrong with the good old W.I.

[Rig of Jarkness]

I can't advise on a recipe but chocolate and beetroot cake is just sublime 

[Marj]

I can't advise on a recipe but chocolate and beetroot cake is just sublime 

That sounds interesting - lets have a look at your recipe.......... please

[Rig of Jarkness]

I can't advise on a recipe but chocolate and beetroot cake is just sublime 

That sounds interesting - lets have a look at your recipe.......... please

Sorry, I can only comment as a consumer rather than a producer...All I can offer is what I've just googled...Chocolate and beetroot cake recipe - Telegraph

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I can't advise on a recipe but chocolate and beetroot cake is just sublime 

That sounds interesting - lets have a look at your recipe.......... please

My recipe for it is in the recipes thread.

Adult Chocolate Cake

225g/oz good plain chocolate
225g/8oz unsalted butter, softened
280g/10oz caster sugar
5 eggs

Grease a cake tin approx 22.5cm/8.75" diameter and 4cm/1/5" deep.

Break the chocolate into a large bowl, set over a saucepan of barely simmering water until melted. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Cut the butter into little pieces and beat into the chocolate. Add the sugar and blend well, beating thoroughly. In another bowl, beat the eggs until very foamy and frothy then gently fold into the chocolate mixture, making sure everything is thoroughly combined.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin and place it in another oven tin with enough water to come up 2.5cm/1" of the side of the cake tin. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 1 hour, then let it cool completely in the tin. When cold remove from the water-filled tin and chill in the fridge overnight. Don't try to eat it while it's still warm. You'll probably need to run a palette knife around the edge of the tin before you turn it out.

[andyoxon]

Thanks Kirst - how much flour though..?   

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

None at all. It's bloody good.

[Pancho]

My children are big fans of a three minute cake recipe they found on the internet (I'm sure google will provide you with the details).

It's surprisingly tasty.

[andyoxon]

None at all. It's bloody good.

OK thanks - that's a bit of a revelation to me; shows how much I know about cakes.

[Arch]

Thanks marj - looks good.    

ingredients need to be weighed

 I think that was my other mistake with the recipe I followed that said 'cups' and we just picked out, well, a cup of random size.

AFAIA, baking powder = bicarb of soda + other stuff, and baking soda = bicarb of soda only.  It's a minefield...  

RE. ingredients... butter vs marge vs sunflower oil in cakes - just a matter of taste?

Cheers rr.

Listen to the cake-y guru, for she knows well of what she speaks.  Marj makes the only fruit cake ever that I properly really like!

On the butter/marge front I have some recipes that I use one and some where I use the other.  IME cakes made with butter taste better, but it's easier to get a cake made with marge to me light and rise well.  And not using butter means that two of my standard recipes are suitable (or can easily be tweaked to be suitable) for the lactose intolerant.  This is important, since one of the employees in the LBS is lactose intolerant!

Have you checked that cake is problem? My lactose intolerant other half says he can eat stuff with milk products in that's been cooked, or in the case of cheese, fermented/processed.  He's fine with cake. (And cheese, we're just about to have pizza)

If it's a dairy allergy, that might be different - the two are not the same (although I'm only just learning about it all).

I'm a marge user myself, just on the grounds of it being softer out of the fridge.

My Mum's chocolate cake recipe is always nice and moist, and she puts that down to the fact that the cocoa powder doesn't go in dry, but slaked in a little hot water.  Not sure if I've got the recipe here, I'll have a look.