Cooking For Engineers

vegas John · Guest

I make a dense chocolate cake daily and people always compliment me on my "brownies".
I have searched to find the difference between the two (a chocolate cake vs. brownies) and even comparing the recipes side by side see little difference.

What makes the brownies dense and moist and the cake tall and of a fluffy texture?

what happens to a cake if you increase or decrease each of the ingredients? more flour vs less flour, more eggs vs. less eggs, more sugar vs. less sugar, more butter vs. less butter etc.

I even read somewhere that brownies were created when someone forgot to add the baking powder/soda, but all the recipes i have seen have leavening in them.

McDee · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 25

To paraphrase my baking and pastry textbook (to avoid copyright infringement Wink

): The line is personal based on texture.

High ratio of butter to flour - dense and fudgy
Less butter - more cakelike
More eggs - even more like a traditional cake
Higher ratio of sugar - gooier brownie.

wildblue · Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 1 Location: central ohio

yuck. never use levening in brownies, that makes them cakey.
best recipe is on or in the baker's unsweetened chocolate package. add about three tablespoons espresso powder for a kick.

Dude111 · Joined: 23 Sep 2010 Posts: 147

I like brownies MUCH BETTER!! (Plain brownies,none of this crap people put on them)

My grandmother used to make AWESOMENESS BROWNIES (I think it was a mix and i dont know what kind)

THEY WERE EVEN BETTER THAN THE ONES WE MADE HERE!!

yocona · Joined: 18 Mar 2011 Posts: 47

paulahendricks · Joined: 14 Nov 2011 Posts: 1 Location: United States

Actually, when making cakes you use cake flour while in making brownies you can use the regular flour. Well you can also use regular flour with cakes but the texture will be quite different.

Dude111 · Joined: 23 Sep 2010 Posts: 147

I reckon they would come out like brownies then eh?

Welcome to the site Smile

carlo · Joined: 16 Apr 2012 Posts: 1

Yeah! i agree that When making cakes, you must use the cake flour while in brownies, use the regular flour, otherwise the texture will be differ.

jacobmeo · Joined: 17 Apr 2012 Posts: 1

bizfox123 · Joined: 21 Apr 2012 Posts: 1

I think they use the same ingredients but different amount

tomnew481 · Joined: 30 May 2012 Posts: 2 Location: Camden, UK

Well, one think I'm sure about the two (brownies and cake) both are delicious and contains carbo.

happyrose · Joined: 02 Jul 2012 Posts: 1

Much to my daughters dismay I make brownies every weekend but I must say, adding dark chocolate and using regular old flour has my brownies turn out delicious almost every time ( I also lather them with frosting). Nothing better than a good brownie and a cup of tea.