# My Quest: Moist, fine crumb choc cake



## vonne (Jul 18, 2008)

My baking quest is to bake a moist, light chocolate cake with a fine smooth soft crumb. Does anyone have a recipe or tips for me. 
Achieving a really fine smooth crumb eludes me. I believe professional bakers achieve this with hi-ratio/emulsified shortening, but this is only available in bulk and not practical for me as a home baker.
Thanks!


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## madbakerwoman (Jul 14, 2008)

i cook at home too, and after trying different chocolate cake recipes for years, i could never find one i was satisfied with. 
now it may seem a little weird, but the chocolate cake recipe on the back of the hershey's cocoa powder can is amazing....definitly the best chocolate cake i've ever made. it comes out great every time and i believe the recipe uses veg. oil instead of butter or shortening. every time we use this recipe we get loads of compliments and several people have come up to my sister and i, and told us it's by far the best chocolate cake they have ever had. it's very moist, too. 
i plan on writing my own chocolate cake recipe eventually, but for now i'm sticking with this one. the frosting is pretty amazing too.


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## qahtan (Dec 7, 2003)

My recipe is a cake, it does not have the fine crumb of a sponge, but it sure is super. If you want the recipe , let me know......

I know it sounds strange as it has Guinness in it, but you cannot detect it in the flavour..... it is just like eating a peice of chocolate. yum............ qahtan


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

try adding mayonaise or pudding mix.


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## vonne (Jul 18, 2008)

MadBakerWoman;230937 said:


> but the chocolate cake recipe on the back of the hershey's cocoa powder can is amazing....definitly the best chocolate cake i've ever made.
> 
> Someone on the forums seemed to have lots of problems with this cake so I was giving it a miss ... but I will try it out, thanks!


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## vonne (Jul 18, 2008)

Yes please, can I have the recipe, I'm game to try it!


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## vonne (Jul 18, 2008)

Should I substitute some flour & oil with mayo & pudding mix, or ADD the mayo & pudding mix IN ADDITION to the regular choc cake ingredients?

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!


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## dscheidt (Feb 27, 2008)

Lacking emulsified shortening, it's necessary to provide emulsifiers from somewhere else. Egg yolks are good choice.

Here's what I do: (This makes one 1.5" by 9" cake, or one not-quite 2"X8", and scales to enough to make a full sheet, by simple multiplication). (Forgive the rather bizarre mixed units.)

Sugar 6 oz
Cake flour 4 oz
Cocoa powder (undutched) 1 1/3 oz
baking powder 2 g
baking soda 2 g
salt 1g
milk 3 fl oz
eggs 4oz (feel free to round that up to nearest whole egg, it works fine)
light corn syrup 1 oz
vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
butter 4 oz (you can use solid shortening, but butter tastes better)

Sift together dry ingredients
mix liquids together and whisk together
Blend the butter, dry ingredients and about half the liquid with a mixer (stand or hand works fine) at a medium speed for about 3 minutes (scrapping the bowl as required)
Add half the remaining liquid, blend 90 seconds to two minutes longer
Add rest of liquid, blend 90 to 120 seconds. 
Bake at 350, until done (tooth pick in center is clean is fine test for this), about 30 minutes.

Cool in pan a few minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely. 

If you're making a layer cake, you can moisten the layers wit h a simple syrup solution. You can use a plain one, or flavor it in a way that complements (or contrasts with) the filling or frosting. (I just did this cake, with a raspberry syrup, stabilized whipped cream filling, and mint flavored chocolate ganache frosting. It went over quite well.)


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## vonne (Jul 18, 2008)

dscheidt;230993 said:


> Here's what I do: (This makes one 1.5" by 9" cake, or one not-quite 2"X8", and scales to enough to make a full sheet, by simple multiplication). (Forgive the rather bizarre mixed units.)
> 
> Hi, had a family illness but am back to baking again
> I have made your cake twice. I had to convert to metric and although I have a digital kitchen scale its not fine enough to measure the 2g baking powder & baking soda, so I used 1 teaspoon of each. It rose well and was light and springy when I took it out of the oven. But during cooling, the cake lost quite a lot of height, about half, resulting in a denser texture. This happened both times. Was wondering if you have any suggestions as to what I may be doing wrong? If I can get this sorted then its exactly the cake I am looking for.
> ...


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## praties (Dec 7, 2005)

I've had good luck with the "Mashed Potato Chocolate Cake" from James Beard's "Love and Kisses and a Halo of Truffles." I'll have to run downstairs and see if it's in any of his other books that I have.

ETA: It's also in "James Beard's American Cookery".


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## dscheidt (Feb 27, 2008)

Vonne;233832 said:


> My cakes fall a touch, but no where near half. It's inevitable; cool air is more dense than the hot air that fills the bubbles when it's in the oven, and the cake doesn't have the strength to hold up to that.
> 2 g of baking powder and soda is about 2/3 teaspoon, so I'd cut that back a tad. Maybe increase the cooking time a tiny bit (a minute, to start with).


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