How come some chocolate frosting are dark brown?

[fawn]

How come some chocolate frosting are in dark brown, while i made one (w/ bittersweet chocolate, butter, vanilla and milk) came out light brown?

And what's the diffrence between a Devil's food cake and a chocolate cake?

 

[marmalady]

The 'brownness' of your frosting will depend on whether you use cocoa or melted chocolate, and how much you use. Generally, cocoa will give a darker color to most frostings, while melted chocolate will be a lighter brown.

Here's a link which basically describes the difference - http://www.baking911.com/cakes/butterpound.htm - this is a great resource for baking in general!

And to make it even more confusing, my hubbie's family (from NC), calls a yellow cake with chocolate frosting a 'chocolate' cake; a chocolate cake w/chocolate frosting is always called 'devil's food'!

 

[licia]

ML, we aren't even from NC, but call yellow cake with chocolate frosting "chocolate cake" and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting "devil's food". What is it called in the rest of the world?

 

[marmalady]

Licia, We just called it 'yellow' cake - or vanilla cake - that's what i remember growing up in PA. I never heard of 'chocolate cake' being a yellow cake w/chocolate frosting til I married into a Southern family!

 

[licia]

So what do you call a yellow cake with white frosting and coconut? or a yellow cake with lemon frosting?...etc? BTW, I love seeing your recipes and use them as often as possible.

 

[Swann]

So what do you call a yellow cake with white frosting and coconut? or a yellow cake with lemon frosting?...etc? BTW, I love seeing your recipes and use them as often as possible.

I guess you would call it a coconut cake and a lemon cake!!!
I always called it a plain cake with coconut, lemon or chocolate frosting. If it was a white cake, it was called a white cake with chocolate, lemon, or coconut frosting.

 

[fawn]

so that's why my frosting is colored light brown.. because i use baking chocolate.

Now, using cocoa vs dutch process cocoa = same shade of brown?

Devil'sfood cake/chocolate cake = very confusing LOL

 

[marmalady]

I think Dutch will give you a darker brown, but I've used both. I like using cocoa in powdered sugar buttercreams anyway, because it stiffens up the frosting nicely.

 

[Banana Brain]

I'm pretty positive that Devil's food cake must be DARK chocolate cake. But I'm wondering about the other cakes out there. Besides the coloring, does anyone know the flavorings or ingredients are there that define the difference between:
Yellow Cake
White Cake
Red Velvet Cake
Carrot Cake (I KNOW it isn't carrot flavored)
German Chocolate Cake
All American Chocolate Cake

I've been desperate to know ever since I went to a wedding today and had a peice of Red Velvet cake for (get ready for this).... the very first time. Anyone have answers?

 

[Banana Brain]

I wonder if white cake even has a flavor. It can't be vanilla, because someone just said yellow cake is vanilla...

 

[marmalady]

White cakes are usuallly flavored w/vanilla, as are yellow; most of them are just an empty palatte for the frosting - ie coconut cake, lemon cake, strawberry/raspberry cake, etc.

 

[Banana Brain]

White cakes are usuallly flavored w/vanilla, as are yellow; most of them are just an empty palatte for the frosting - ie coconut cake, lemon cake, strawberry/raspberry cake, etc.

Lemon cake and rasberry cake aren't defined by their frosting. I've had a lot of lemon cake in my life, because its the favorite of many family members, and its definatly the actual cake that has the lemon flavor.

 

[marmalady]

I'm aware of that; however, many times you use a white or yellow, vanilla-flavored cake w/strawberry or lemon filling in it.

I'd really suggest you do some googling around with cakes/flavorings, and see what you come with.

 

[Banana Brain]

I'm aware of that; however, many times you use a white or yellow, vanilla-flavored cake w/strawberry or lemon filling in it.

I'd really suggest you do some googling around with cakes/flavorings, and see what you come with.

I did. I got, "Web definitions for yellow cake The U308 uranium concentrate used by nuclear power plants in Angra dos Reis in Rio de Janeiro State. It is a radioactive substance made from a low-grade uranium ore." And some bad ones for pretty much all of them but devil's food cake. Actually there is a good one for German chocolate too I just realized, but the others have some rather odd answers.

 

[Banana Brain]

Okay, from a quik glance at a few googled recipes, All-American chocolate cake is made with shortening, whereas German chocolate cake is made with butter but thats the only real difference in the cake I can gather. Again, thats the actual CAKE difference. I know that there's coconut and sometimes caramel in the frosting/filling of German chocolate cake.

 

[lulu]

Wow, I have had a giggle at all these cake definitions.

In UK its chocolate cake, regardless of the colour of the cake, but I think it is slightly less common to use a non-chocolate cake with choc icing/frosting here.

Other, non flavoured cake is "sponge cake", so it would be a sponge with lemon icing as the description, and yess, the flavour would be lemon cake if the sponge too was lemon flavoured with jam and cream is Victoria sponge, then there is the longer lasting butter rich Genoise, and Madeira Cake (a rich heavy sponge) in fact there are a lot of different types.

I rarely make just chocolate cake, its usually a flavour, like chocolate almond, or chocolate coconut etc.

 

[Ishbel]

Lulu
I'm with you.... some of the American terms for cakes amaze me... the 'Red Velvet' for instance.

We have a much simpler recipe system! I love madeira cake and use it for things like Battenberg.