Help Needed with Chocolate Cake

[XiaoZhu]

Hi Guys,

I just tried making a Chocolate cake using the recipe found at the back of all the Hershey's Cocoa casing. The recipe is as follows:

HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

I used a 10" Round Cake pan instead of 2 9" Round Cake pan to bake, as usual I tested the cake with a toothpick and it came out clean after around 50-55 minutes. The cake turned out to be odd looking (the centre of the cake was puffed up and "crispy") but when cutting it into half to do my frosting, I found the cake too moist to move around.

Anybody have any suggestions on the bakeware I can buy, cause the one I'm using now doesn't have a detachable bottom so I have to flip my cake onto the cake plate. Also anybody have any idea why my cake turned out this way?

Any help and suggestions are glady appreciated!

Thanks alot guys!~

-XiaoZhu

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Ohhh Yehhhh. I often change the size of my cakes, cheesecakes, etc. as I have a 10" springform pan that I like to use. It's a Kaiser Brand, from Germany. They are easy to find and purchase on the internet, and aren't overly pricey. They are well built and sturdy.

To increase the size of the cake, you will need to decrease the cooking temperature by about 50 degrees, and increase the cooking time by approximately, 20 minutes. This will allow the heat to penetrate and cook the inside while protecting the outside from overcooking.

Your ten-inch pan creates a cake that has a greater diameter, and is thicker than one baked in a 9 inch pan (I add another half recipe of batter to any desert I make in the ten inch springform). It takes the heat longer to penetrate to the cake center.

If you are using a standard cake recipe for two nine-inch pans, you have to figure in the extra thickness and diameter of the cakes. You may have to experiment with the temperature and timing just a bit. Also, add an extra 2 tbs. of cooking oil to your batter. This will keep the cake from drying out.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[jpmcgrew]

What elevation do you live at? It might have something to do with it also get an oven thermometer to see if your oven is at the tempurature you set it at.

 

[marmalady]

Two 9-inch rounds do not equal a 10-inch round! Here's a great chart with pan size substitutions for future reference:

http://www.baking911.com/pantry/substitutes_pansizes.htm

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Two 9-inch rounds do not equal a 10-inch round! Here's a great chart with pan size substitutions for future reference:

http://www.baking911.com/pantry/substitutes_pansizes.htm

You are absolutley correct. I forgot to mention that if I'm making a recipe for two 9 inch rounds, and I use the ten-inch springform pan, I have too little batter. But correct me if I'm wrong here, 1 box cake mix will make two 9-inch round cakes. If that's the case, then making extra batter is necessary to fill the ten inch pan to the proper level. Yes, that's it. I used three boxed cake mixes to make two ten-inch round cakes. So you need 1 1/2 recipes of boxed cake mix to make 1 ten inch round cake. Sorry everyone. Just thinking out loud, so-to-speak.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[marmalady]

And then it depends on whether you're using two 9 x1 1/2 inch rounds, or two 9 x 2-inch rounds!