Chocolate Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes a cake moist and soft? ›

Brown Sugar Lends Caramel Undertones And Helps Lock In Moisture. Incorporating brown sugar into your chocolate cake recipes can elevate them from good to unforgettable. Tasting Table's recipe developer, Molly Allen, demonstrates this beautifully in her elegant yet simple death by chocolate cake recipe.

All this means that adding mayonnaise to the cake batter boosts the moisture of the final product—and leaves none of its characteristic taste. Testing showed that using oil or butter instead of mayo made for a drier cake, but keeping the eggs in addition to the mayonnaise improved richness and springiness.

Fudge cake packs a thicker, denser cake layer, a velvet departure from the more delicate, fluffy cake layers found in a chocolate cake. Think of the textural difference between a block of fudge and a block of chocolate. The chocolate melts in your mouth, while the fudge lingers with every chewy bite.

Why does oil give cake superior texture? Butter is 18% water, so when the batter is baked, some of its liquid evaporates. Replacing the water from the butter with oil means there's more fat left in the cakes to ensure tenderness.

Brown and white sugar also have unique flavor profiles. Brown sugar has a deep, caramel or toffee-like flavor due to the added molasses. For this reason, it works well in chocolate cakes and cookies, as well as rich fruit cakes.

In a pinch, dark brown sugar can be substituted for light brown; however, when baking recipes sensitive to moisture and density (such as cakes) the difference in moisture content between can affect how well the cake rises. Swapping the two will also affect the recipe's taste and color.

So, if your recipe calls for one cup of white sugar, swap one cup of brown sugar. The sweetness level will be the same, but the brown sugar may change the texture of your baked goods. You'll likely notice a more robust flavor, and the finished baked goods' color may also be darker.

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. "Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods," she adds.

Why add an extra egg to cake? ›

Add an Extra Egg

Most cake mixes call for two to three eggs. Just one more egg will add extra moisture, fat, and a little protein, which means the cake will be softer and less likely to overbake and dry out in the oven.

Vinegar helps with the rise of our baked goods

When vinegar reacts with baking soda, it creates carbon dioxide bubbles, which act as leavening agents. So as the batter bakes, these tiny bubbles expand, causing the cake to rise and giving it that light, airy texture we all love.

There are a few theories as to how it got its name. One, it's the decadent counterpart to angel food cake. Two, it's sinfully delicious. Finally, devil's food cake came about during a time when food that was spicy, rich, or dark was described as deviled, like deviled ham and deviled eggs.

Triple chocolate cake

Out of all decadent chocolate cakes available, triple chocolate cakes are the best to taste as well as look at. And that's because, like the name suggests, this cake contains all three types of chocolate – white, milk and dark.

Semisweet chocolate has a relatively low amount of sugar, which gives it a bittersweet flavor that is perfect for baking. Semisweet chocolate can be used in a variety of recipes, such as cookies, cakes, and brownies. It can also be used to make chocolate chips.

Vinegar and buttermilk help to break down the protein in the flour, resulting in a fluffier cake. This is due to the acid in both vinegar and buttermilk. For more on the magic of vinegar in baking, click here.

Applesauce acts much like the fat. It keeps the flour protein from mixing completely with the wet ingredients and forming a rubbery, dense texture. This is what does applesauce do in baking.

Most cakes will call for a leavening agent like baking powder or baking soda. These create the bubbles you need for the cake to rise. If the flour you use is self-raising, it already has a leavening agent in it. Make sure your butter is room temperature, and beat the butter and sugar together until properly creamed.

Put some pudding in the mix: Add a small box of pudding mix in with the cake mix. (Don't make the pudding.) The mix adds additional flavor, moistness, and a denser texture.