Sunday 27 November 2011

One Bowl Chocolate Cake

Another quick and incredibly easy recipe from Eating Well, and again, the result was a bit of a mixed bag. The flavour of the cake was fine but the texture was bordering on unpleasant - it felt like a dense bath sponge which needed wringing out.

I like dense moist chocolate cakes but not those that are so moist that they could be called wet! I'm not sure where, or if, I went wrong, but there was definitely too much liquid in the recipe - even after 45 minutes in the oven a test probe showed the cake was still damp in the centre. I'm pretty sure I didn't make any mistakes in measuring or weighing the ingredients, but my experience was nothing like that of those who commented on this recipe online.

At least it wasn't a large cake - we'll only get 6-8 portions out of it! My next bake is going to have to be a cake I know will work, or my family will rebel against my experiments, but I'm going to give Eating Well another chance, I think.
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10 comments:

  1. Caroline27 November 2011 at 20:37

    What a shame it was wet. I wonder if US and UK flours vary vastly in their capacity to absorb liquid? I can't really see it though.

    Would it be worth repeating with less liquid in the recipe? (Perhaps use a bit less coffee and a bit less buttermilk?)

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  2. Anne27 November 2011 at 21:51

    Oh dear I nearly spluttered my hot chocolate over me when I read 'bath sponge which needed wringing out'!!

    Time for a proper cake :)

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  3. Suelle27 November 2011 at 22:03

    C - I think it could be tried again as you suggest, when I'm in the mood for experimentation.

    Anne - time for a reliable cake, if not a 'naughty' cake!

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  4. Phil in the Kitchen27 November 2011 at 22:27

    Strange - I must say that the proportion of wet to dry ingredients doesn't look right in the recipe but maybe they were trying for something a little (?) different. Maybe it's best eaten in the bath.

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  5. ilovechocolatecake27 November 2011 at 22:45

    I'm sorry your chocolate cake recipe didn't turn out quite like planned. Don't ever give up on trying to eat well though. You and your loved ones will greatly benefit from it. Try another healthy cake recipe. You're lucky you have people to experiment on for your food. In my household, people hate trying the things I bake because they don't like sweets. I always end up giving some to the neighbours or eating it all my own!

    Good luck on your next cake :)

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  6. Rachel27 November 2011 at 22:49

    Thats a shame - nothing worse than when a bake doesn't work out!

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  7. Suelle28 November 2011 at 06:33

    Phil - I've made conventional mudcakes which contain a lot of liquid, which is why I wasn't more suspicious of this recipe!

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  8. cocoa and coconut 28 November 2011 at 07:19

    Hm, I don't know I sort of like moist and dense cakes. I know you said it was wet..but the picture looks so appetizing!! Shame it wasn't to your taste though

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  9. Snowy28 November 2011 at 13:52

    The cake looks good, Suelle. Shame it didn't turn out as you'd hoped.
    I really enjoy reading your posts because you experiment with new recipes. I tend to be a stick-in- the-mud, but do occasionally experiment with new flavours.

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  10. Suelle28 November 2011 at 14:07

    Thanks for saying that, snowy! Sometimes I wonder if I come across as a 'moaning minnie' because so many recipes disappoint on some level. I wish I had the money to be more experimental, and not worry if batches of baking ended in the bin; as it is we have to eat the results, even if they are not very good. It has to be really bad to be thrown away!

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