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Recipe File: Chocolate Cake
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:42 pm    Post subject: Re: scharffenburger chocolaTE Reply with quote

jentrippy wrote:
HELLO CAN YOU TELL WHETHER SCHARFFENBURGER 70% BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE WOULD BE AN APPROPRIATE CHOCOLATE TO USE FOR THIS RECIPE? THANKS!

Yes, that would work fine.
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Doug Alder
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 12:53 am    Post subject: re: equal weighing Reply with quote

I think a faster weigh (sorry couldn't help myself) is to know hte weight of your mixing bowl (in your case that looks like a Kitchen Aid mixer) - engrave it right on the side of the bowl if necessary. When you have finished mixing your batter weigh the mixing bowl subtract the intial weight and divide by the number of portions you need. That way (I restrained myself this time - aren't you glad) it doesn't matter whatn the pans etc you are filling weigh - just put one on thescale - zero it if you have an electronic one or just add the difference if you don't and fill to that amount. This saves the constant going back and forth between the pans to adjust the weight as you only need to deal with each pan once.

Greetings
Doug Alder
http://www.thealders.net/wkpowercook/
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MissJubilee
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:14 am    Post subject: living without parchment paper, and other issues Reply with quote

I've enjoyed reading your recipes in the last few months since I found it through Yahoo's customizable "My Yahoo!" feature (they suggest blogs and such to add to one's page, and this one's right up my alley!) I especially appreciate the inclusion of both metric and American measurements, and the formatting of the recipe at the end. I've been doing something like that for years, but always feeling a bit ashamed that my recipe cards didn't look as nice as my mother's traditionally-formatted ones (well, she has better handwriting, too...) Now I'll draw straight lines with pride and format it just as I like. Smile

The main reason I appreciate the dual measurements is that though I'm from America, I am living in China at the moment - and some things come with the grams marked right on the box (for instance, 125g and 227g butter - why not 225 or 250? I don't know...) I've found everything on the recipe with a few minor substitutions ('yoghurt' for sour cream, a dark chocolate bar for the chocolate), but I do not have parchment paper. I'm going to attempt it without - perhaps one layer with just greased, another with grease and flour, to compare - but for future reference, is there any decent substitute or any way to treat some other paper to make it serve the purpose? (I can't get brown paper bags here either for my favorite merengues to bake on, and sadly I've found that plain printer paper leaves a nasty taste) I do have aluminum foil - expensive!!! - but haven't yet come across any waxed or parchment paper.

Also wondering if there's anything to do to keep the batter fresh between layers. The only ovens available here are toaster ovens, so I'll be baking my three layers one at a time.

One last note: in the text it says to let the cake cool 5 minutes, but in the recipe at the bottom is says 15. I'm gonna guess 5 is right?

Thanks!
"Miss Jubilee"
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:16 pm    Post subject: Re: living without parchment paper, and other issues Reply with quote

MissJubilee wrote:
The main reason I appreciate the dual measurements is that though I'm from America, I am living in China at the moment - and some things come with the grams marked right on the box (for instance, 125g and 227g butter - why not 225 or 250? I don't know...)

They mark it 227 g because it was first measured in ounces (8 ounces) and then the value was converted to g and printed on the label. Usually, when an item is measured in g and then converted to ounces it is rounded to the nearest 1/4 ounce - so the 125 g package (if it had labeling in ounces) would probably have read 4-1/2 ounces.

MissJubilee wrote:
I've found everything on the recipe with a few minor substitutions ('yoghurt' for sour cream, a dark chocolate bar for the chocolate), but I do not have parchment paper. I'm going to attempt it without - perhaps one layer with just greased, another with grease and flour, to compare - but for future reference, is there any decent substitute or any way to treat some other paper to make it serve the purpose?

Your best bet would be to grease the pan and sprinkle either flour (like you said) or chocolate powder (which would be best for this recipe because of the color) into the pan and get it to coat all the sides. Remember to knock out the excess powder.

MissJubilee wrote:
Also wondering if there's anything to do to keep the batter fresh between layers. The only ovens available here are toaster ovens, so I'll be baking my three layers one at a time.

A sheet of plastic wrap, pressed up onto the surface of the batter should keep it from drying out.

MissJubilee wrote:
One last note: in the text it says to let the cake cool 5 minutes, but in the recipe at the bottom is says 15. I'm gonna guess 5 is right?

Good catch. I've fixed the typo.
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Icemaja
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 4:16 pm    Post subject: Re: living without parchment paper, and other issues Reply with quote

Quote:
The only ovens available here are toaster ovens, so I'll be baking my three layers one at a time.


I have a suggestion for this. It is something I usually use to speed things up. Instead of using 2 separate pans (or more) you can put everything in a deeper one. After it is baked and cooled enough you can cut it into as many layers as you need. You can use a knife of course, but I prefer a peace of thin thread (floss), it is more precise. Also, if you are not practised in this, for better precision it is better to move the cake than the thread. Tie one end of a thread to a needed height, take other end in your hand, tighten it up, don't move it and push the cake forward with your free hand.
You may think that cake won't be baked well in the middle cause of the thickness, but don't worry. At least, I didn't have problems with that... yet Smile .

p.s.
This is than the fastest way to measure it Wink
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MissJubilee
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:28 am    Post subject: Successful baking Reply with quote

Thank you both for your advice and explainations! It did indeed come out better from the buttered-and-floured pan than the just-buttered, but the third layer was the best - I used the butter wrapper for parchment paper! I also discovered that the cake has a strong affinity for peanut butter (used to anchor it since I wasn't making frosting). Delish!

And, one more way to divide it - I used my one-cup measure and just scooped the batter into the pan and into two smaller bowls to divide it into three (since I didn't know how much to put in the pan for the first layer). But then I had to eyeball it with a spoon for what was left over, so it's not nearly as exact as weighing. But I like that floss idea!

I also wrote up my cooking experience on my own blog at http://missjubilee.spaces.msn.com/ if anyone would like to read it Smile
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Guest






PostPosted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I made this cake yesterday for guests and everyone loved it. I had a few problems with it however. The recipe states that the sour cream and vanilla should be mixed, but you did not state how much vanilla to use in the ingredients list (unless I am missing it). I opted for 1 tsp.

I was very pleased with the parchment paper technique and utilizing the butter wrappers to grease the pans (genius!). My cake was extremely moist (which was a good thing) but when I went to invert the cake in order to frost it after allowing it to cool, it fell apart and I had to piece it together. Should I have allowed it cool longer?

I didn't care for the buttercream frosting-almost too buttery of a taste but I will make this cake again with different frosting as it was delicious, moist and full of chocolate flavor.

Thanks for the recipe--I love your site!
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Diego Rodriguez-Vila



Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 1
Location: Madrid, Spain

PostPosted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 11:53 am    Post subject: Frosting Reply with quote

I see you donīt say how to do the frosting. How do you do it?
Thanks.
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I Love Engineers
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:09 am    Post subject: Baking a cake in NO time! Reply with quote

I didn't believe it until my sister made cupcakes and gave me one to eat. It was one of the moist cakes I've ever eaten.

You can make a cake with only 2 ingredients: cake mix and a 20 oz. bottle of diet soda! Just mix them together and bake! That's it!

Of course, you need to coordinate colors (white cake = diet sprite/7up, etc.). I don't know why it has to be DIET, but I think it has to be.

I bet that'll be an easy recipe to post!
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cakelover



Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:31 pm    Post subject: Chocolate cake - Ingredients Reply with quote

If you can please let me know where do I get the Dagoba chocolate and cacao powder.
thanks
cakelover
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 7:50 pm    Post subject: Re: Chocolate cake - Ingredients Reply with quote

cakelover wrote:
If you can please let me know where do I get the Dagoba chocolate and cacao powder.


Where do you live? Dagoba Chocolate can be ordered directly from Dagoba at http://www.dagobachocolate.com. You can also find them at Whole Foods if you have one close to where you live.
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OSSIENYC
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:01 am    Post subject: TASTES LIKE A $35 CAKE Reply with quote

This tasted just like a thirty five dollar cake I can get in New York City which although tasty I had forsworn and vowed to make myself. I got 9 inch silicone pans on sale from Amazon to give this recipe another shot BUT I just caught an episode of Nigella Feasts on the Food Channel. Seeing as she made a chocolate loaf cake with sour cream, I tried that to see how it differed from your recipe. It was good and dense but more suitable to me because she threw all the ingredients into the food processor! The batter was much thicker than your recipe and much thicker than her batter on tv but it rose and cracked accordingly.
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Molly
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:37 pm    Post subject: Two Questions Reply with quote

I have two questions. The first one is, if I just take out the cacoa powder and the actual chocolate, could you use it as a regular white cake recipe? Next question, is it okay to use regular flour, or do you absolutely have to use cake flour? Thanks, it'll really help!
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 8:14 am    Post subject: Re: Two Questions Reply with quote

Molly wrote:
The first one is, if I just take out the cacoa powder and the actual chocolate, could you use it as a regular white cake recipe?

This is possible. I would replace the baking soda with about 2 teaspoons of baking powder though. Otherwise, the ingredients could work for a white/yellow cake.

Molly wrote:
Next question, is it okay to use regular flour, or do you absolutely have to use cake flour? Thanks, it'll really help!

You can use all-purpose flour, but cake flour will help make the texture crumbly (like a cake) while all-purpose will tend the cake to be closer to a muffin consistency.
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LoraKay
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 12:09 am    Post subject: ingredients Reply with quote

Two questions,

Where can I find the pure cacao powder?

What are some other types of chocolate that can be used that are easier to find (or cheaper) than the Dagoba?

Thanks!
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