# Cake help needed please.



## bettyr (Feb 18, 2007)

I found this recipe on the web and the lady that posted it said that she got second place with this cake… she didn’t say in what. A mocha almond cake sounds really good to me and I would love to make one but the amounts of ingredients for this cake look odd to me. 

I could really use an experienced eye here 

Mocha Almond Cake

Ingredients: 
1 1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 tsp almond extract
4 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Salt
3 Cups Buttermilk

Directions: Cream butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. Combine flour, soda, and salt together in separate bowl. Add Flour mixture, to creamed butter mixture while alternately pouring in the buttermilk, making sure its well blended. Divide into two 10" round cake pans, and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool and frost with mocha frosting.

Frosting
2 lbs. confectioners’ sugar
1-cup butter
6 tbsp milk
4 heaping tsp Instant coffee
1/2-cup cocoa

Directions:
Dissolve coffee in milk. Let stand for 5 minutes. Cream butter... add cocoa and mix. Add Sugar and milk-coffee mixture. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add more milk if needed.

Personal Decorations: 
Using a star cake tip put a border around the top and bottom of cake. Put 5 star decorations around a single star decoration in the middle of the cake. Put a raspberry in each of the stars on top, and around the border, with about 1 inch in between. Cut up some almonds, and sprinkle on top of cake, and bottom border. 

Enjoy!!!


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## stir it up (Oct 15, 2007)

Doesn't look that odd to me. What looks odd? too much liquid? too much almond extract? sugary frosting?

I would make it, but make sure you use a really good quality pure almond extract. 

I didn't really look that much at the frosting, it's not my style of frosting, (I usually use other methods to get a more moderate sugar content and nice flavor) but it also doesn't sound that far out of line for those types of frosting recipes. You could think about searching for another strongly flavored mocha frosting with less icing sugar, unless you like your frosting very sweet. But that cake actually sounds kind of nice, I'm tempted to try it, though I'm scared of too much of a fake almond flavor, maybe I'll do an orange version (or sub in some almond flour). I like the idea of that much buttermilk and I have some in the fridge.

I say go for it. Let us know what you thought sounded out of proportion.


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## bettyr (Feb 18, 2007)

I thought it looked like too much flour and too much liquid, but if it looks OK to you I think I'll give it a try. 

How much almond flour would you sub for how much reg flour?


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## stir it up (Oct 15, 2007)

you're right Betty, it is slightly heavy on those, but I thought that was nice in a way to dilute out the fats a little, and buttermilk is a thicker liquid, so I thought it would hold it together. It is lower in egg than some similar formulas I use, but it didn't look way out there proportionally or anything. 

I could be wrong as I haven't made this cake, but I would probably start with with say 3/4 cup almond flour to a cup, then you could consider adding the extract at the end by taste, starting with a slightly smaller amount. I find almond extract quite strong tasting, most times I use it it's in smaller amounts. I find even the pure stuff can taste fake sometimes, but I'm thinking the buttermilk will balance it out too so you're probably fine.

Or you could take my mother's advice, and always make a recipe verbatim on the first go, and don't play around with it until after you've made it.

On the icing though, maybe someone on here can help you with a nice mocha buttercream, or look for an icing which uses a cooking method to thicken and will use less sugar. The coffee will counteract the sugar, but in general icings like the one in that recipe are very sweet. BTW, if you have instant espresso, I would use that, or I know some people are using the concentrated liquid instant coffee paks too, for an even better coffee flavor. Hehehe some kahlua substituted for the milk or cream wouldn't be a bad idea either. See, we're working on first prize instead of second for you. toast those almonds a little for the top or edges. ok I'll shut up now.

use dutch process or alkali processed cocoa, (fattyer and darker and better tasting). 

I said I'd shut up didn't I.:blush:


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## bettyr (Feb 18, 2007)

I live out in the country and the closest grocery store is a 17-mile drive so I’ve gotten very good at substituting ingredients. So the recipe below is the recipe with my subs. I just took the cake out of the pans and it’s very moist and it fell just a tad in the center so I think I may up the flour to 3-3/4 cups next time and see how that works.

I made a cooked frosting that makes a dark almost bittersweet frosting because the cake batter was really sweet! I figured if I put a sweet frosting on it we wouldn’t be able to eat it. I tasted it after it was baked and this frosting is just right for the cake. Recipe posted below.

All in all it’s a good recipe but needs a bit more tweaking and maybe a few less subs; I was low on milk and I needed it for supper so next time I make the cake I plan to at least have regular milk to sour. 

I had some slivered almonds in the freezer but I didn’t use them because I was too lazy to toast them. Besides hubby took a chunk out of the cake as soon as the frosting went on… he really liked it so I guess that was 1st prize. 

The flash on my camera made the picture on top look like milk chocolate but it's the same cake. 

Mocha Almond Cake

Ingredients: 
2 sticks butter
4 ounces shortening
4 eggs
3 cups sugar
1-tablespoon vanilla extract
3-1/2 cups AP flour
1 cup almond flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 can evaporated milk…opened and poured into a 4 cup measuring cup…added 3 tablespoons vinegar + enough sour cream to make 3 cups of liquid…mixed well

Directions: Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until very light and fluffy about 8 minutes.

Beat in eggs one at a time.

Combine flour, almond flour, soda, and salt together in separate bowl. Add Flour mixture, to creamed mixture while alternately pouring in the buttermilk, making sure its well blended. 

Divide into two 10" round cake pans, and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. 

Cool and frost with mocha frosting.


Glossy Mocha Frosting

Mix well together:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch-packed
8 tablespoons cocoa
1-tablespoon butter
1-teaspoon salt

Stir in: 
2 cups strong boiling hot coffee and cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add 1 stick of chopped butter and 1 tablespoon vanilla.

Cool stirring often until thick enough to frost cake


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## risque cakes (Apr 20, 2007)

I agree making it the way the recipe calls for the very first time and then tweaking it. This is how I do ALL my recipes.

Some I like some I don't like and some, by the time I'm finished with them have no resemblance to what I was supposed to start with.

I'm going to try this for you next week at the bakery and let you know, 

( I can't right now as I'm baking and decorating 6 cakes for a tv show and geting my final inpection on Friday....I I don't get back just shoot me a PM to remind me..)


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## stir it up (Oct 15, 2007)

good job Betty! Those pics are making me want to go make a coffee, and reach through the screen and grab a hunk. Looks nice and moist.

Part of the slight collapse in the middle could be underdoneness there, contributed to by the 10" pans. Do you happen to have any "cake strips," those little insulators that go around the edges of the pans... they can help get the middle done without the edges being overdone, if that's of interest to you. 

I noticed you added an extra egg, if you want a little substitution tip... when you added that egg, you could have cracked it into the measuring cup for your liquid, then used the liquid to balance it in total to the three cups, so the liquid for the extra egg was accounted for in proportion.

Good job changing out the frosting to something less sweet, I like 2 cups of sugar much better than 2 pounds!

On this particular cake, I think the buttermilk is an important and interesting component. I'd get some next time I was near town, the large quantity of buttermilk is something I really liked about that recipe.

So did you use no almond extract whatsoever? I'd probably use a tiny bit, sort of like in an angel food cake where it develops the flavor but doesn't hit you on the head as almond extract.

I'm gonna try this cake too sometime down the road. 

Risque, good luck with your inspection, and break a leg for that TV show.


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## risque cakes (Apr 20, 2007)

giving your recipe a quickie look, there are a lot of ingredients with a hi fat content which could be why your cake "seemed" under done


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## bettyr (Feb 18, 2007)

Thank you…. yes it is very moist!

I've seen people on TV use the strips but I don't have any.... I also don't have any 10" pans...I used 9"x4" pans. 

I got a gift certificate from Bed Bath and Beyond for Christmas and was planning on using it to buy some more kitchen supplies. I'll probably add those to the list, thanks.

I have to shop online… the closest store to me is about 60 miles. I was looking at the muffin top pans online and wondering if they would be something I could use to make hamburger buns in. I’ve never seen one of the pans in person so I don’t know how big they really are. What do you think… are they big enough to make a good size hamburger bun?


Sorry about that...the extra egg was a typo!!!! I only used the 3 it called for.

I'll do that... next time I make it I'll plan ahead and make sure I have buttermilk. 

No I didn't use any almond extract. It's very strange.... I LOVE almonds but I HATE almond extract with a passion. I can smell it a mile away and I won't touch anything that has almond extract in it. 

I keep almond flour in my freezer and have several favorite recipes that call for almond flour but it tastes and smells nothing like almond extract to me.

Good luck...I mean break a leg from me as well. :bounce::bounce:


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## risque cakes (Apr 20, 2007)

I made the cake today, i was going out of my mind waiting for the inspector to arrive and since I had all the ingredients on hand decided to kill some time and baked the cake.

I followed the recipe to the "T" and to be honest, the cake did NOTHING for me...

I had enough batter to bake 2, 2" cakes and 1 , 3" cake all in 10" round pans. 

The 2, 10x2 cakes were baked for 30 min instead of 40 and appear to be a little dry around the edges.

I have the 3" in the freezer to finish off the bit of the buttercream that came with the recipe.

My next attempt will be to make them in 2, 3x10 pans maybe the cake will be a little moister.

I just tasted a bit that came off when I was slicing it for the pictures and it was just a "sweet" cake, the icing was just AMERICAN BUTTERCREAM...powdered sugar and butter instead of shortening flavored with coffee and chocolate..neighter flavor was dominant...it didn't taste of one nor the other.

We'll see what happens when I do the second one....will post pic on Monday when I upload them.

( just thought you'd like to know my experience with the recipe )

No, I wouldn't offer this as a selection on my menu, as it really didn't turn me on...

My next try will be a MOJITO CAKE that I found...lol


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## bettyr (Feb 18, 2007)

Thank you for the input.... I think the almond flour adds the needed moisture to this cake but my hubby and son said the exact same thing you just said.... the cake is OK…. but it's nothing to write home to mom about.

I would be very interested to hear about the Mojito Cake.


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## risque cakes (Apr 20, 2007)

I"m going to be trying the "mojito" cake from the TSUNAMI RESTAURANT COOKBOOK I have an event where I have to make 1,000 cupcakes and I think the flavor would work with the event.

It's the 20th Anniversary of the NEW TIMES and there are 3,000 to 5,000 of Miami elite invited but as a one woman show there is NO way I can do that many! lol

I'm only going to make 1,000 one ounce cupcakes and a Tiered cake for the photo op.


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## robeezee3 (Jan 6, 2008)

I think that adding 2 more eggs might improve it, since the flour-liquid/egg ratio looks a bit on the low side. This will help bind up some of the liquid and give better texture and strength. 

Also, although people fear that beating cake batter for too long will make a tough cake, you may improve this cake by beating it for 5 minutes. As Rose Levy Beranbaum says, this develops structure (and with the acidic buttermilk, it will surely prevent the cake from getting tough by suppressing gluten formation).


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## risque cakes (Apr 20, 2007)

Well, here are some photos of my version of this recipe...I used frozen Raspberries which I would never use in "real life"..lol and I didn't have any almonds of any kind in the bake shop, so it went "nakid"..lol

(So I used imitation Almond extract because I had no way of warning off people with nut alergies!)

Finished cake:










Cut cake, These are the 2" layers. Stacked










Slice:


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## bettyr (Feb 18, 2007)

Risque Cakes-

It's beautiful!!! What changes did you make and how did you like it with your changes?


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## risque cakes (Apr 20, 2007)

Betty as I explained,

I baked 2 in 2" pans and the one in the 3" pan...and didn't garnish with the nuts since I didn't have any, but everything else was the same.

The cake was not a turn on for me, as I wrote...I wouldn't offer this to my customers.

I'm making lemon bars right now as part of a "MUFFIN DELIVERY" service I'm trying to set up. lol


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## bettyr (Feb 18, 2007)

Oh! I misunderstood you.... I was thinking the picture of the cake that you posted was a second version; one you baked with changes that you had made to improve the flavor and texture.

Well either way it's a beautiful cake... even if it doesn't taste good it’s very pretty to look at. 

Later when you have the time I would love to see one of your recipes for yellow cake that you do like. 

I have several recipes that are pretty good but so far I haven't really found one that I think is remarkable. 

Thanks,
Betty


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## risque cakes (Apr 20, 2007)

those are state secrets..lol

Since I base my business on my recipes, I don't really give them out, I hope you understand

In other words, I paid close to 35 thousand for my education and knowledge and I developed these few recipes from that, so I have to Milk them for all they are worth before I hand them out!:roll:

I don't mind so much when they are recipes that are found on the internet or "ENHANCED" cake mixes since they are not "personal" to me.


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## bettyr (Feb 18, 2007)

Yes I understand; I'm still disappointed but I do understand.


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## risque cakes (Apr 20, 2007)

thanks for understanding, but there are some great recipes out there, I have found a few...

Am working on that mojito one, would like to make at least the icing for that 1,000 mini cupcakes..

Maybe I should go out and drink a "MOJITO" so I know what it's supposed to taste like..lol


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## bettyr (Feb 18, 2007)

I think I would need to drink several MOJITOs before anyone could talk me into making 1,000 mini cupcakes. :crazy:


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