NewsI’ve been experimenting with cake recipes, and I’m having trouble making a chocolate cake that doesn’t taste like a brownie.
What I want (doesn’t everyone?) is a light, moist chocolate cake, but the cake now has the texture and flavor of a cakey brownie. I tried aerating it further by beating the egg whites before adding them and adding extra rising agent (tried baking powder, baking soda, and a mix of the two), but it overflowed the pan.
I also tried adding yogurt to make it moister, but it only made it denser.
I’m using genuine chocolate in my cake because I want it to taste rich and dark. I’ve read a lot of cake recipes and I don’t see very many that use block chocolate, usually only cocoa powder. Is this the source of my issue?
In my experience, unsweetened baking chocolate may be used in lieu of cocoa and oil in the following proportions: 1 oz baking chocolate = 3 T cocoa powder + 1 T oil. I don’t think this makes the result more brownie-like, but you do need to reduce the oil (or butter) in the cake to make up for the added oil from the baking chocolate.
Reduce the sugar if you use dark chocolate (or semi-sweet baking chocolate), although this is a bit tougher to calculate.
If you are worried about losing the rich chocolate flavor by switching to cocoa powder, first make sure you’re using a high quality cocoa powder and then you can also consider replacing some (maybe 2T or so?) of the liquid in your cake recipe with strong espresso. A modest quantity may improve the chocolate flavor of baked products without making them taste coffee-like.
Reducing the egg (or at least the yolk) and oil in the cake should make it less thick, but too much reduction might leave it dry.
Adding too much chocolate might be the culprit…use a matching quantity of cocoa and chocolates…(half of the chocolates and half of the cocoa)this helps!!
And don’t forget the milk…it keeps the cake moist…
And if you want it to be fluffy enough you might use bicarbonated soda!! This will provide positive results!!
Baking powder, baking soda, and buttermilk are all good options. The buttermilk’s acidity along with its liquidity will enhance the reaction process with the rising agents producing the appropriate aeration for the cake.
If you use cake flour and cocoa instead of butter, the cake will be cakey rather than fudgy. If you wanted to make it have more chocolate flavor, there’s actually something called chocolate extract which can enhance the chocolaty-ness (lol yeah huh) of the cake.
Try a recipe with cake flour and cocoa – if you want strong chocolate taste, try the Valrhona brand of cocoa. It has a strong perfume and a dark color.
Related Questions
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Why does my chocolate cake not taste like chocolate?
It’s most likely the quality of the chocolate you’re using rather than the amount. Like wine, if you want excellent chocolate taste, you must cook with good chocolate. A little coffee or espresso will also assist to enhance the chocolate taste.
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What is the difference between cake and brownie mix?
Brownie mix is just a cake mix that lacks a leavening agent. So all you need to do is add some baking powder and oil or butter, and your fudgy brownies will be transformed into a chocolate cake! To make brownie mix into cake, use the same ingredients with a few changes.
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Why does my cake taste like a brownie?
You’re adding a lot of fat and solids when you use actual chocolate, which is making the cake more dense. How much chocolate do you have? It could be better to use less chocolate and make up the difference with less cocoa.
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Why is my cake like a brownie?
Finally, a cakey brownie is formed by using too much air in the batter, resulting in a fluffy and cake-like center.
