I am a pastry chef, and this is the only chocolate cake that I will make from now on. I separated the eggs and whipped the whites separately with some of the sugar, then folded it all together to make is extra airy. This recipe could easily be flavored with coffee, juice, or buttermilk in place of the water. FANTASTIC!
My Mum and I found this recipe and decided to use it for my Sisters wedding cake. It was perfect! Everyone loved it. We made 3 tiers. The bottom tier was 2 batches (we made them seperately and cooked them together, I don't think it would work if you doubled it) It was huge and took 2 hours to cook. The 2nd tier was 1 batch. We made the top layer carrot. It was iced with white chocolate truffle icing and it was just amazing. I'm going to put a photo of it on this site.
This recipe makes a very pure, clean-tasting chocolate cake with a fine crumb and a texture that can be moist or dry depending on how long you bake it and how long you let it air-dry. I followed other reviewer's suggestions: substituting butter-flavor Crisco for butter; creaming with the sugar for over 2 minutes; and baking in a single 10-inch springform Bundt pan. It came out quite well on the first try.
I also tried whipping the egg whites separately, but that made little difference, as this is a pretty solid, moderately dense cake, so I wouldn't bother with that in the future.
The flavor is such a pure, moderate chocolate cake that it would be perfect as a base for a wide range of desserts using added flavors. Vanilla whipped cream would be a great accompaniment. Unaccompanied, it's nice but a little too plain.
Caution: grease the pan quite well, as the cake is clingy when hot and you don't want to tear it.
I get tired of my usual choc. cake recipes so am always looking for something new. This is a very good cake. I made it in a 12 cup bundt pan but other than that followed the recipe exactly and found it to be sweet enough with a good chocolate flavor and I had no problem with the cake falling apart. For those who thought it was dry: make sure the cocoa-boiling water mixture has cooled thoroughly before proceeding with the recipe otherwise the cake may turn out heavy and dry.
I have made this cake recipe for every family birthday for the last 4 or 5 years. I have 4 children, so I know this recipe off by heart now! It is a little crumbly, but I make it the day before and put it in the fridge. This seams to change it into a very moist cake. I consider this a good thing, because then I always have the cake ready ahead of time. It does stick in your pans terribly, so be sure to line your pans with baking paper (or parchment) and not just butter or butter and flour them. This is a really delicious cake. I would make something different for each birthday, but my husband and kids ask for this chocolate cake every time. Now if they would only learn the recipe and make it on my birthday.....ha ha.
Thanks so much for the recipe! I've made this cake twice to rave reviews. I almost didn't try it because of the warnings about its dryness from other users. If you are getting a dry cake from this recipe, I believe it could be a technical issue. Insufficient creaming of the butter and sugar could cause the cake to be dry. I allow at least 2 minutes of moderate-speed blending. I also used butter-flavored Crisco (1c butter = 1c Crisco + 6t water), which can also make it moister. You could also be overbaking, either by giving it too much time in the oven or by having an oven that's too hot. If you enjoy baking, do yourself a favor and invest $6.00 in an oven thermometer. You won't regret it!
Quite disappointing after all the excellent reviews. Like many, I've been searching for 'the' chocolate cake recipe and this is not it. I'm going to stick to oil as my search continues -- the butter-based chocolate cake recipes I've tried resulted to rubbery textures, and oil-based ones consistently give better results. (If anyone knows the explanation, or better yet the solution, to this, it will be much appreciated!)
One of the few chocolate cake recipes truely from scratch. Thank you. I used strong coffee instead of water. Topped it with cream cheese frosting (8 oz + 1 c powdered sugar, milk and Vanilla). Very good. Made it in a 9 x 13, baked it for about 35 minutes. It was a very thick cake, but not too dense and went over very well. Not as chocolate as I would have hoped for tho but a nice alternative from scratch.
Some cakes, like the Black Magic Cake or the One Bowl Chocolate Cake III, are VERY moist, and have a relatively dense, compact crumb. This cake, being a butter cake, (meaning that the fat and sugar are creamed together to incorporate air), is light, tender and fluffy. Neither type is better than the other, it's either a matter of personal preference or what you want for a particular project. As a butter cake, this recipe is very good, and I know it wil improve by the following day. I halved the recipe, which yielded 12 cupcakes and one small loaf cake. Other than using freshly brewed coffee for the water, I followed the recipe as written and was quite satisfied with it.
