Finding the Best Chocolate Cake Recipe (Part 1)

[Patrick S]

You're welcome Helen! I'm looking into ways using lenses to get even better shots of the cake structure, on a very small scale. I find it very interesting, in a geeky kinda way.

[R Washburn]

The Herme cocoa cake is pretty good, depending on the cocoa you use. But I don't think  I'd personally put it in the running for best chocolate cake. But it is good, and the Fauborg Pave which uses the cocoa cake is probably my favorite chocolate cake. Ive never tried that with another cake though.

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The Fauborg Pave's ganache made a great frosting for the Chocolate cake i just made from the "Cake Bible".

[Patrick S]

The Herme cocoa cake is pretty good, depending on the cocoa you use. But I don't think  I'd personally put it in the running for best chocolate cake. But it is good, and the Fauborg Pave which uses the cocoa cake is probably my favorite chocolate cake. Ive never tried that with another cake though.

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The Fauborg Pave's ganache made a great frosting for the Chocolate cake i just made from the "Cake Bible".

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I don't doubt that one bit! That caramel ganache is easily the best ganache Ive ever tasted. I don't know why I haven't used it more.

[helenjp]

I did try the recipe again with a bread flour. The extra beating made quite a difference - at 4-5 minutes, I could see the batter thicken noticeably.

However, the finished cake is a bit too heavy and intense for me... I toasted some pieces and am now thinking that I will incorporate the frozen crumbled pieces into vanilla icecream for my sons !

[mkfradin]

It is a very moist cake, but it shouldn't be "heavy" in texture like a brownie--maybe in flavor? We toast the crumbs and use them for biscotti and to edge our cakes, and mixing them in with ice cream wouldn't be bad either.

[helenjp]

Thanks for the info on texture, after the second attempt, I was wondering if perhaps the cake was simply a Mud Cake variation...

I'm thinking that the difference in flours is more important than I thought...and maybe my oven is a bit low in temperature.

I use bread flour when baking US cookie recipes, and that has solved any problems...but it's a long time since I tried out a new US cake recipe. When I compared a '70s NZ/Australian version of the carrot cake being discussed in THAT thread, I found that the NZ recipe had 50% more flour than the US version, though otherwise all but identical. Hmmm. So I may need to actually increase the amount of flour (and check the oven temp with a thermometer) to bake it successfully in Japan.

[Patrick S]

I tried the Scott Woolley cake one last time, this time using a cocoa I am familiar with (Hershey's). Its much better than the time I used Ghirardelli cocoa, and is definitely a good cake all-around, but I still have to say that overall, and especially with regard to flavor, I prefer the butter-rich 'She-Ain't-Heavy' cake. I think its at least partly due to my own quirky preference, in that I I have found that I personally don't like chocolate cake recipes with sour cream or buttermilk recipes. I'd rather add oil or milk for moistness and butter for flavor. One thing I should also mention is that the taste of this cake improved drastically over 24 hours. Last night I thought the flavor was not so good. Tonight it is much better. Its not unusual for the flavor to improve like that, but in this case the improvement in flavor was much more noticable than any cake I can remember.

[Wendy DeBord]

One of the main reasons why I stopped starting threads in search of the "Best" of any item is how strongly the "x" factor plays into everyones results. The "x" factor (for lack of a better name at this moment) is all the variables in baking. It's inmeasurably HUGE, on top of everyones expectations of what "perfect" is in the first place.

I used to print out recipes and trust the results someone else achieved with a given recipe. It seemed pretty reliable since I was taking the word of other highly interested bakers. Until (what eventually would be obvious) I ran into results that did match a posted recipe and my thoughts were the opposite, like "this isn't great".

This also gives me reason why there are some chef/authors recipes that always turn out great for me and others that I've had so many disapointments with that I no longer will try their recipes. I'm not sure how or why but it does seem we can break bakers into catagories. Some that like this type and some that like that type.

So the reason for writing this post. You might not like what everyone one is raving about. It doesn't mean you've done something wrong, you might just have a different expection or liking.........and that perspective is valuable information to share regardless of what or whom you dissagree with.

[Wendy DeBord]

Seeing your photos are very very helpful and informative PatrickS! We all LOVE them!

I just want to briefly mention that my results on that cake recipe produce a completely different colored cake then what you posted. Mine is far darker. So perhaps the brand and or type of cocoa powder your using may be giving you different results then I get.

Just a thought............

[Brithack]

You can't do better than Nigella's Nutella cake (do you have Nutella in America?) Especially good for feeding annoying people who don't do wheat... It's wheat-free and you get to put in a WHOLE big jar of Nutella.

In fact, Green & Black's 'nutella' is even better in it. Yum.

[mkfradin]

Can you share the recipe for the nutella cake? I'm OBSESSED with Nutella--use it in buttercream, filling for macaroons, make candy with it, eat it straight from the spoon--and if there's no flour, would it work for passover??? So to answer your question, yes, we have it in america, and although it might be a little pricier here, it's not a luxury in my book but a necessity.

Marjorie

[mignardise]

Mkfradin..

I've tried your yellow cake recipe. I love it. Thanks for sharing.

I just picked up some Nutella also the other day for my husband.

Haven't used that in ages.

So, you just add it into your buttercream huh? I have to give it a try, sounds yummy.

[mkfradin]

So, you just add it into your buttercream huh? I have to give it a try, sounds yummy.

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Yep. Sorry I don't have proportions or weights to use. You'll just have to taste it!

I use a buttercream recipe from Sugarcraft's message board called Charlotte's whipped buttercream; it's kind of like an Italian meringue buttercream but with shortening instead of butter. We add extra water to it to soften it up. But I'm sure the Nutella will bring out the best in just about any plain buttercream recipe.

Marjorie

[mignardise]

Sugarcraft, sorry don't go there.

I usually use a hazelnut paste. But, haven't thought about Nutella in ages.

Good stuff.

I use Italian Meringue all the way. Can't bare to sub shortening though.

Thanks

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[nightscotsman]

Just wanted to say I tried the "She Ain't Heavy" cake recipe this morning and I have to say I was hugely dissapointed with my results. The cake is moist, but very crumbly and has virtually no flavor at all. I used Hershey's cocoa which seemed to work fine for the other chocolate cakes I tested for this thread. The recipe as written seems to have a rather low proportion of cocoa and sugar to flour - am I missing something?

2 cups cake flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-ounce pieces

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

[JSkilling]

I tried the "She Ain't Heavy Cake" as well and was disappointed with it. The cocoa flavor is not strong enough, it's not sweet enough and it was very dense when I made, though that's probably my fault for halving the recipe and using two eggs in it.

The Woolley cake is beating everything I've made so far and it gets raves from my tasters. What I like is it's fine for a kid's cake but it gets nicely dressed up with that lovely Herme caramel chocolate ganache and some hazelnut buttercream (going to try it with the Nutella on Thursday instead of making a ganache out of Gianduja).

[Patrick S]

Well, I guess there's no accounting for taste. Sorry the results were not good for you, Neil and Josette. Personally, I thought the taste of Mrs D's was far better than the Woolley recipe, being a little less chocolatey but much more buttery and without the slight sourness of the buttermilk. I made it with the Valrhona cocoa, which I like better than Hershey's, but I'm pretty sure that's not what turns me off the Woolley recipe. I don't know why it turned out very crumbly for you Neil. My last attempt attempt at the Wooley cake was actually more crumbly than the Mrs D's cake.

Edited March 23, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[Patrick S]

Just wanted to say I tried the "She Ain't Heavy" cake recipe this morning and I have to say I was hugely dissapointed with my results. The cake is moist, but very crumbly and has virtually no flavor at all. I used Hershey's cocoa which seemed to work fine for the other chocolate cakes I tested for this thread. The recipe as written seems to have a rather low proportion of cocoa and sugar to flour - am I missing something?

2 cups cake flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-ounce pieces

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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Neil, the recipe in my copy of the book is different from yours. Mine lists 1 and 3/4C sugar rather than 3/4, 1/2t salt rather than 1/4, and 1/2t baking powder rather than 1/4. Did you only use 3/4C sugar, or did you just leave out a 1 in your quote?

EDIT to add: my copy of the book is a an uncorrect proof, not the final version. I have no idea if the recipe in the finished book is the same as the one in the uncorrect proof version.

EDITED again to say I meant 'uncorrected proof,' not 'uncorrect proof,' which sounds like uncorrect English.

Edited March 23, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[Patrick S]

Ok, I went back and checked the link supplied earlier in this thread. It has a fatal misprint -- listing 3/4C sugar rather than 1 3/4. If you made the cake according to that recipe, I'm not at all suprised your cakes turned out crumbly and not sweet enough.

Edited March 23, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[nightscotsman]

Ok, I went back and checked the link supplied earlier in this thread. It has a fatal misprint -- listing 3/4C sugar rather than 1 3/4. If you made the cake according to that recipe, I'm not at all suprised your cakes turned out crumbly and not sweet enough.

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ah-HA - big difference. I'll try it again (with a dutched cocoa) and see what I get, though I may also increase the cocoa amount as well.

[JSkilling]

Double A HA! That would do it, though it still doesn't have enough cocoa in it for me, which is why the Woolley cake is working so nicely.

And as much as I generally like dutched, in this application I'm mixing about 1/2 cup of dutched with the other cup natural. I love the deeper flavor. And it's just good ole Hersheys.

[Patrick S]

I was really baffled there for a minute. Tasteless, crumbly, and not sweet enough were not how I remembered it! I make no claim that it is the best, but I would say it was good.

As far as the Woolley cake goes, I think I'm going to try it at least one more time and substitute some milk for some of the buttermilk, maybe 50/50. It does have a lot going for it, and with a little more tinkering on the flavor it could be one I use more often.

[Sarah Phillips]

Is it too late to add another recipe for others to try?

[nightscotsman]

If you've already tried one or two of the other top recipes we've already tested and you have one you think is better, then bring it on! It would be helpful if you also added a few words on why you think the new recipe is better than the current favorite - moister, better flavor or texture, etc.

[Patrick S]

I'm definitely interested Sarah!