Problems doubling a recipe

[Andy M.]

Andy M posted a recipe for an easy chocolate cake. Do a search for it.

...and here it is.

Busy-Day Chocolate Cake Recipe | Cooking | How To | Martha Stewart Recipes

I topped it with Alix's chocolate ganache frosting. Perfect!

 

[pengyou]

Hmmmm that does look tasty indeed. But back to the original question...do you think this recipe could be quadrupled?

 

[taxlady]

Hmmmm that does look tasty indeed. But back to the original question...do you think this recipe could be quadrupled?

I really doubt it.

Now you are talking about quadrupling, not just doubling, the cake recipe.

Do you want a cake that is four times as tall or one with four times the surface area or one that is twice as tall and twice the surface area? That makes a difference.

 

[taxlady]

...and here it is.

Busy-Day Chocolate Cake Recipe | Cooking | How To | Martha Stewart Recipes

I topped it with Alix's chocolate ganache frosting. Perfect!

That looks an awful lot like the one I posted, http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f41/quick-chocolate-cake-tnt-68163.html#post935807, slightly modified from a cookbook by Edna Staebler. It uses melted butter instead of oil.

 

[Andy M.]

That looks an awful lot like the one I posted, http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f41/quick-chocolate-cake-tnt-68163.html#post935807, slightly modified from a cookbook by Edna Staebler. It uses melted butter instead of oil.

Martha is an ex-con so I guess she could have taken it.

 

[taxlady]

Martha is an ex-con so I guess she could have taken it.

It's an old recipe. Edna Staebler wrote that she thought you probably already had the recipe, but that it was so good that she wanted to make sure you had it.

 

[CWS4322]

I really doubt it.

Now you are talking about quadrupling, not just doubling, the cake recipe.

Do you want a cake that is four times as tall or one with four times the surface area or one that is twice as tall and twice the surface area? That makes a difference.

Or is it you need a cake to serve 4x as many people? I have a recipe book for volume cooking (from the restaurant my parents once owned). It has recipes for cakes that serve 40 people.

 

[pengyou]

or is it you need a cake to serve 4x as many people? I have a recipe book for volume cooking (from the restaurant my parents once owned). It has recipes for cakes that serve 40 people.

bingo!!!

 

[pengyou]

Can you post the name and author of this book? Also, what are the magic words I would use in google to find more books like this? or better yet, free recipes on line for 40 or more people.

 

[teachmetocook1]

Usually when I bake cakes I add more milk than water. Most people think this shouldn't be done but actually it makes for a much lighter, fluffier and softer cake. I always get praises when I make my lemon cupcakes. My sister in law bakes too and she says hers never turn out as fluffy as mine. She asked me how I get mine so soft and I told her I use milk instead of water. Maybe use should try this. I also rarely get cracks in my cakes either.
Hope I helped

 

[GotGarlic]

Can you post the name and author of this book? Also, what are the magic words I would use in google to find more books like this? or better yet, free recipes on line for 40 or more people.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cooking+for+crowds

 

[CharlieD]

Usually when I bake cakes I add more milk than water. Most people think this shouldn't be done but actually it makes for a much lighter, fluffier and softer cake. I always get praises when I make my lemon cupcakes. My sister in law bakes too and she says hers never turn out as fluffy as mine. She asked me how I get mine so soft and I told her I use milk instead of water. Maybe use should try this. I also rarely get cracks in my cakes either.
Hope I helped

It will be fluffier, you are right. On the short run, so if you are going to serve the cake right away and if it gets eaten right away, you have a winner, but if it seats for a day or two or three, that cake is going to lose the fluffiness and become hard.

 

[pengyou]

Thanks! I just made my original choco cake recipe -doubled - but added 2 teaspoons of white vinegar to it...very moist and airy...delicious! Thank you so much!

 

[CharlieD]

Thankyou for the update.