Finding the Best Chocolate Cake Recipe (Part 1)

[Ling]

Just wanted to add that I prefer the recipe I posted to the Wooley cake, and I also prefer the Martha recipe to the Wooley cake.

I'm going to try your recipe too. I like the fact that is has chocolate AND cocoa in it, as well as coffee and buttermilk. Love the pics!

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Yup, those were my reasons for trying it too! The best chocolate cakes, imo, always contain coffee and either buttermilk or sour cream.

ETA: I don't know how to take nice pictures, and the lighting makes the cake look a lot lighter in colour than it actually is. The cake is really a very, very dark brown when it comes out of the oven--almost black. Nice and chocolatey.

Edited September 28, 2005 by Ling (log)

[cherimoya]

I also tried the Epicurious recipe based on recommendations on this forum and I was very pleased with the result. It has replaced my old standard (Hershey's Chocolatetown Special Cake) - which I still really like and would make if I didn't have all the ingredients for the Epicurious cake.

[Patrick S]

I use Valrhona cocoa powder. I think I was considering Scharffen Berger, but I read a comment on Egullet (I think from PatrickS) who said the SB cocoa is worse than Hershey's!  (Hey, you know I've never even checked to see whether it is natural or dutch-processed. Anyone know?)

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SB cocoa is natural, and is still probably my least favorite.

[Patrick S]

I tried the Sue B cake last night. I increased the cocoa to 1C since I was pretty sure that 3/4C would not be chocolatey enough. It was certainly not bad, but was not outstandingly good either. The flavor was fine, but I thought it could be less leavened/more heavy, and could probably be more chocolatey. I'll try to post some pics later.

[MelissaH]

Good food should be shared!

I completely agree with that. In fact, if Abra hadn't shared her wonderful choux discovery with me, I'd still be making mediocre cream puffs.

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So what, exactly, is this marvelous discovery of Abra's?

MelissaH

[Ling]

^It's the Pichet Ong's choux pastry recipe.

[mignardise]

Ling...........so you use a Dutch (Valhrona) cocoa for this Epicurious recipe?

[Ling]

^Yes, I do. I know the recipe calls for natural, but I prefer dutched cocoa. (I'm open to suggestions for good quality natural cocoas though...I think I remember some bakers here using Droste. I haven't seen that in Vancouver, but perhaps I'm not looking hard enough.)

Edited September 28, 2005 by Ling (log)

[mignardise]

I've used both......My natural is plain ole Hershey's and my dutch that I always use is Cocoa Barry Extra Brute. Droste is dutch. It's okay. Have you tried Pernigotti? Not bad, can find at Williams Sonoma. I like Vahlrona too.

Not tried SB. If the concensus says not good, I will not bother to buy it. But, you would think SB would be better than the other naturals like Hersheys and Nestles. If you can get a hold on some Cocoa Barry.....it's good.

[Patrick S]

I tried Ling's favorite cake recipe tonight (Double Chocolate Layer Cake). I baked the batter in three 9" pans, and the cakes were done in about 40 minutes. I used Callebaut cocoa and Ghirardhelli bittersweet chocolate. I've only had one bite so far (the cakes are still cooling), but my initial judgement is that the cake is very good -- very chocolatey, very moist, and a little on the heavy side. I'd say this cake is definitely a contender for the title.

[Steven Blaski]

I've used both......My natural is plain ole Hershey's and my dutch that I always use is Cocoa Barry Extra Brute.  Droste is dutch. It's okay. Have you tried Pernigotti? Not bad, can find at Williams Sonoma. I like Vahlrona too.

Not tried SB. If the concensus says not good, I will not bother to buy it. But, you would think SB would be better than the other naturals like Hersheys and Nestles. If you can get a hold on some Cocoa Barry.....it's good.

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Cooks Illustrated just updated its cocoa tastings (11/2005) and -- in the dutched category -- they declared Callebaut cocoa the top, with Droste second. Valhrona (three times the cost of Droste) finished dead last. In the natural cocoas, Merckens was the winner, regular Hershey's was second, and Scharffen Berger was dead last.

I tend to take their tastings results with a big grain of salt. But at least in this case they stated their bias up front -- they prefer dutched cocoa to natural.

[Ling]

I've used both......My natural is plain ole Hershey's and my dutch that I always use is Cocoa Barry Extra Brute.  Droste is dutch. It's okay. Have you tried Pernigotti? Not bad, can find at Williams Sonoma. I like Vahlrona too.

Not tried SB. If the concensus says not good, I will not bother to buy it. But, you would think SB would be better than the other naturals like Hersheys and Nestles. If you can get a hold on some Cocoa Barry.....it's good.

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I don't have a Wiliams Sonoma up here. I wish I knew that they had Pernigotti (I haven't tried it) when I was in the WS in Seattle a few days ago! I haven't really branched out in terms of chocolate--in high school, I used Baker's and Lindt, and then I graduated to Callebaut. Now I'm using SB and Valrhona. I've used Cacao Berry but I don't like it as much as SB and Valrhona, but it's still a big step up from Callebaut, in my opinion. I haven't tried many different types of cocoa, so I'm going to look for the Callebaut cocoa and the Cacao Barry Extra Brute. Thanks for giving me some recommendations.

Edited September 30, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Patrick S]

I tend to take their tastings results with a big grain of salt. But at least in this case they stated their bias up front -- they prefer dutched cocoa to natural.

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Well, to be fair to CI, the word bias implies prejudgement, when in reality their across-the-board preference for dutched cocoa was discovered in a blind tasting. They make it sound as if they were quite surprised by this result.

[RuthWells]

I tried Ling's favorite cake  recipe tonight (Double Chocolate Layer Cake).  I baked the batter in three 9" pans, and the cakes were done in about 40 minutes. I used Callebaut cocoa and Ghirardhelli bittersweet chocolate. I've only had one bite so far (the cakes are still cooling), but my initial judgement is that  the cake is very good -- very chocolatey, very moist, and a little on the heavy side. I'd say this cake is definitely a contender for the title.

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Remind me, Patrick -- have you tested the Whimsical Bakehouse chocolate butter cake as part of the quest?

[Patrick S]

I tried Ling's favorite cake  recipe tonight (Double Chocolate Layer Cake).  I baked the batter in three 9" pans, and the cakes were done in about 40 minutes. I used Callebaut cocoa and Ghirardhelli bittersweet chocolate. I've only had one bite so far (the cakes are still cooling), but my initial judgement is that  the cake is very good -- very chocolatey, very moist, and a little on the heavy side. I'd say this cake is definitely a contender for the title.

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Remind me, Patrick -- have you tested the Whimsical Bakehouse chocolate butter cake as part of the quest?

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No I haven't tried that one. Was the recipe posted somewhere?

[Dailey]

well, i have the "double chocolate cake" in the oven as i type, i really liked the cake by scott woolley so i just had to see if this one could top it!

[RuthWells]

Remind me, Patrick -- have you tested the Whimsical Bakehouse chocolate butter cake as part of the quest?

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No I haven't tried that one. Was the recipe posted somewhere?

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[lapasterie]

I think the best cocoa is by Felchlin. I get it from Walker Foods. Also Swiss Chalet has that brand chocolate.

[nightscotsman]

I tried the Double Chocolate Layer Cake recipe this morning and I can report that the texture, crumb and moistness are excellent - just what I've been looking for. The crumb is more open, but not as crumbly as the Wooley cake. However, I still think the Wooley cake has much better flavor. I might try the Double Chocolate again replacing some of the oil with melted butter and see what that does. I also might try disolving the cocoa in the hot coffee with the chocolate to release more flavor.

[Dailey]

just wanted to comment on the "double chocolate cake", it has a very good chocolate flavor, very "fudge-like". however, i was disappointed when it stuck to my pans. i always use shortening and in this case, cocoa powder to dust, so i don't know if this is a common problem or not. also, i did not like the crumb on this cake, i prefer one that is tighter. this one seemed to have largers "holes". i would have to say i like scott's chocolate cake better, all in all.

[s_atan]

Hi I am new here. I am a bit scared to post I haven't had the chance to try the recipes posted earlier but hope to do so as soon as I have the time

Anyway, I just wanted to share my recipe. This is the chocolate cake I make and it gets good reviews. Unfortunately it doesn't contain coffee, buttermilk, sour cream or chocolate as mention by someone in the thread as a standard. Anyway, just give it a try and tell me how it rates. Unfortunately, the measurements are in metric and the numbers seems a bit weird. I think this recipe was translated from a different set a measuring standard. So good luck!

Chocolate Moist Cake

Part A

267 g eggs

443 g sugar

Part B

334 g liquid milk

Part C

424 g butter

334 g flour

15 g baking powder

110 g Cocoa Powder

5g salt

Note: Egg, milk and butter must be at room temp.

1. Whisk Part A until Fluffy. Note: As the portion of sugar is larger than eggs, this will not double in volume.

2. Stream Part B slowly while whipping Part A. Mix well and leave aside

3 Sift all dry ingredients of Part C. Cream the butter and add the sifted ingredients. Mix gently and well.

4. Stream Mixture of Part A and B into Part C. Mix slowly and and mix well.

5. Pour into 2 9" buttered and bottom-lined pans and bake at 175C until the tooth pick comes clean (et: 40 mins).

6. Leave to cool in pan. (I leave it overnight). Invert and ready to be used.

The cake will dome if the oven temp is too hot, so sometimes you have to adjust accordingly.

Usually I will sandwich it with ganache and cover with ganache and decorate with chocolate roses and leaves. I noticed that the cake tastes even fudgier the next day.

Tell me what you think.

Edited October 1, 2005 by s_atan (log)

[CanadianBakin']

just wanted to comment on the "double chocolate cake", it has a very good chocolate flavor, very "fudge-like".   however, i was disappointed when it stuck to my pans.     i always use shortening and in this case, cocoa powder to dust, so i don't know if this is a common problem or not.  also, i did not like the crumb on this cake, i prefer one that is tighter.  this one seemed to have largers "holes".  i would have to say i like scott's chocolate cake better, all in all.

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I've never had it stick before. I use parchment and pan spray.

[Patrick S]

just wanted to comment on the "double chocolate cake", it has a very good chocolate flavor, very "fudge-like".   however, i was disappointed when it stuck to my pans.     i always use shortening and in this case, cocoa powder to dust, so i don't know if this is a common problem or not.  also, i did not like the crumb on this cake, i prefer one that is tighter.  this one seemed to have largers "holes".  i would have to say i like scott's chocolate cake better, all in all.

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I've never had it stick before. I use parchment and pan spray.

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Ditto here. Parchment should be standard operating procedure for very moist cakes.

[nightscotsman]

I made the Double Chocolate cake again with some minor changes to enhance the flavor:

- reduced oil to 1/2 cup (I made sure to use corn oil this time, since I think there was an "off" flavor from the canola oil I used in the first batch)

- added 1/2 cup butter to be melted with chocolate

- dissolved cocoa with hot coffee when added to chocolate

- upped the vanilla to 2 teaspoons

- since I was making a half batch and didn't want to mess with 1/2 an egg, I just used two whole eggs, so the full recipe would be 4 eggs

The result - tasted side by side I think the test with the changes has a better, more rounded chocolate flavor and maybe slightly moister, though still not too heavy. It's a keeper for me. I still really like the Woolley cake recipe too. I think each will be good for different situations.

And I also sprayed and lined the pan bottom with parchment - no sticking.

By the way, I used Hershey's regular cocoa in all my tests for this thread. I'm sure they would all be better with a higher grade cocoa, but it's cheap and literally all I can find in the grocery stores here in Vegas without paying the outrageous markup at Williams Sonoma or special ordering online. We used to use Cocao Barry Extra Brut at work, but recently changed brands for some reason. I think the new brand is Schokinag and I haven't tasted any of our recipes that use it lately to see if there's a difference.

[chefpeon]

- reduced oil to 1/2 cup (I made sure to use corn oil this time, since I think there was an "off" flavor from the canola oil I used in the first batch)

- added 1/2 cup butter to be melted with chocolate

- dissolved cocoa with hot coffee when added to chocolate

- upped the vanilla to 2 teaspoons

- since I was making a half batch and didn't want to mess with 1/2 an egg, I just used two whole eggs, so the full recipe would be 4 eggs

Thanks for noting those changes Neil. I am planning on trying that recipe today and will probably do it with your tweaks first. I love it when people do my R&D for me.

however, i was disappointed when it stuck to my pans.  i always use shortening and in this case, cocoa powder to dust, so i don't know if this is a common problem or not.

As I posted in the "Gingerbread Disasters" thread, you will find no sticking problems at all if you use baker's grease. I promise, if you make some and use it, you'll be very HAPPY CAMPERS! You'll probably use it for everything and keep a stash in the fridge at all times. It's better than pan spray. It's better than anything. It's cheap and easy to make. C'mon.....try some today!

All you have to do is:

Take equal parts flour, oil, and shortening (not butter)

(this can be by volume or weight....really doesn't matter...I use volume most of the time..easier)

Dump 'em all in a bowl, and whip til fluffy.

Store in fridge, and use pastry brush or your hands to grease your pans.

It's truly great. I really promise.

Edited to add: parchment works great too.....but since I'm lazy, I like to use baker's grease, so I don't have to spend time cutting circles out of parchment sheets. Oh yeah, I know that there are parchment circles (carried by bakery suppliers) but I'm cheap too. Baker's grease is cheap. Parchment circles are not. Relatively.

Edited October 1, 2005 by chefpeon (log)