How can I make this chocolate cake better?

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pengyou

Senior Cook
Joined
Feb 14, 2011
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Beijing
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/17981/one-bowl-chocolate-cake-iii/


I was first drawn to this recipe by the words in the title "one-bowl". It is quick and easy to make and the results are pretty good and consistent. I would like to fine tune this a bit to make it "better", better meaning a little tastier, more consistent, etc. Do you have any suggested changes for the procedures? Ingredients? I have wondered if I added the boiling water to the oil first, if that would help the mixing process? Certainly sifting the soda and powder together first, and then into the flour. Adding oatmeal? using applesauce? I do mix 2 tbsp of instant coffee into the boiling water before I pour it into the batter. I have made this recipe more than 200 times...guess I am a little bored :rolleyes:


Related question: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/oatmeal-chocolate-cake/ why does this recipe only call for 1.5 tsp of baking soda? The first recipe uses 1.5 tsp of BOTH baking soda and baking powder.
 
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Every Christmas my family (each household) wants their Christmas Wreath cake. I use the recipe from Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa recipe. The special dark cocoa is so very rich in flavor. And when you add the hot water at the end, it causes the chocolate cocoa to bloom. You can smell it out in the hall through closed doors.

My grandson calls the cake, "The Death Wish Cake." Anyone who takes a piece of that cake before he gets his BIG piece, will die.

Also when a recipe calls for both baking powder and baking soda, they both act as a leavening agent and the cake rises to glorious heights.

Come November I take some zippy bags and place all the dry ingredients for each cake in individual zippies. Then the bags go into the freezer until I am ready to make the cakes in December.

December - Take the bag out of the freezer, let it come to room temperature, place contents in a bowl and slowly add any liquids called for. The hot water always is the last liquid to be added. I also stir the hot water in by hand. I found out the hard way that using the mixer for the addition of the hot water, causes the boiling water to backsplash on the baker. Nasty burn. Ouch!!!

Once you have all the boiling water mixed in by hand, let the batter sit while you prepare your cake pans. It gives the water and leavening agents a chance to start doing their jobs.

Grease pans generously and dust with cocoa powder in place of flour.

The recipe you are using is very similar to the Hershey's Dark Cocoa recipe.

I always go to the company that is best known for the main ingredient when I am baking. For chocolate cake, I go to Hershey's. Every company has a test kitchen where recipes are tried and tried again until perfection comes out of the oven.

The first time I made this cake, I greased the pans with Crisco then powdered with the cocoa. Then I ran out of the shortening and used butter in its place. That little bit of butter on the bottom of the cake only enhanced the flavor.

If you care to compare the recipe you are presently using to Hershey's, just go to Hersheys.com Their site can be a wee but difficult to navigate.

Good luck. The recipe looks fine. Just use some of the tips I have listed. You will have one very rich moist chocolate cake and be the envy of all your friends.
 
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For a more moist cake, add 2 extra tbs,, cooking oil. To take this recipe over the top, combine your favorite chocolate butter cream, half and half with Nutella. Word about the leavening agents: Baking powder contains both an acid and alkali ingredient. When made wet, they react with each other, creating the CO2 bubbles that make the batter rise (leaven) ast it cooks. Double acting baking powder has a 2nd set of ingredients that don't react until heat is applied, giving you a loftier rise. Baking soda requires the addition of an acid before it has any leavening power. This can be cream of tartar (a mild acid), or cocoa powder that hasn't been dutched. Dutching is a process of adding an alkaly to stip away some of the natural oils in cocoa powder, making it mix better with liquids, bu also neutralizing the natural acidity of the cocoa.

For another amazing chocolate cake recipe, try this one out. It's one of the best I"ve ever eaten.

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
Sift together:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons dark, cocoa

Blend together and add to above
1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup water

1. Blend the two sets of ingredients together whisking well until a smooth batter is created.

2. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9 X 16 or 9 X 18 baking pan.

3. Slightly jiggle pan to smooth out batter and to help release any large air bubbles that may be trapped in the batter.

4. Bake at 350 degrees in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This cake has a nutty, rich flavor with a great crumb and is very moist, without being oily. It's my favorite chocolate cake.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Every December I have to make three chocolate wreathes. For the liquid I add boiling water for the liquid. It causes the cocoa flavor to bloom and you can smell it out in the hall of the building I live in.

It also helps keep the cake moist. My great grandson calls it the "Death Cake." If you are brave enough to steal a piece, he will kill you. You can find the recipe for it in the Hershey site. I use the extra dark cocoa recipe.
 
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