My chocolate cakes are always shit - pls help

[Corta]

I have tried 4/5 chocolate cake recipes. And they always end up shit. I am a competent cook/don’t bake too often but most things turn out well. I measure out the ingredients. My oven is decent. The cakes always end up a bitter and bland. The Nigella recipe with the sour cream was not eatable.

What chocolate do you use if actual chocolate is required. I buy the good stuff - 70% green and blacks as specified.

Son would like a homemade chocolate cake for his birthday but it’s causing me so much anxiety.

Nigella's chocolate cake from How to Eat. I think she calls it a birthday cake.

It's flour and cocoa powder, and to that you add chocolate, condensed milk and butter that you've melted/heated together. Stir wet with dry ingredients and beat in 2 eggs, then bake.

With chocolate ganache for the filling and icing, it's fantastic cake and always works out really well.

(I couldn't find the recipe online, I'm afraid - but it's well worth getting hold of the book for this recipe alone!)

This recipe
https://mycupcakeaddictionblog.com/2017/03/09/the-best-chocolate-mud-cake/

Never fails. I've made it with my toddler DD when half the ingredients ended up on the floor and it still tasted amazing. Impossible to muck it up!

Actual chocolate is required. I use Bournville

Use cocoa powder instead of chocolate. Much nicer. Then a layer of melted chocolate for the icing.

Just make a pound cake but substitute some of the flour for cocoa. Honestly, so simple and I always get compliments on it (I bake for a living!)

Mary Berry's is fool proof

I don't bother with the apricot jam but I have used a good cherry jam with success. I've also done it with whipped cream and cherry jam in the middle and the ganache on top, like a black forest cake rather than gateaux.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolate_cake_48307

200g plain flour
200g caster sugar
4 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarb
1/2 tsp salt
5 tablespoon veg oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar
250ml water.

Mix and bake at 180° until knife is clean. Makes one cake or 12 muffins.

The easiest, most moist and chocolatey cake ever.

Steer clear of Ganache filling it's a nightmare and too overpowering.

I have a secret weapon for chocolate cake. It's so quick and simple. For a simple recipe:

I make a basic sponge with your 225g butter, 225g sugar, 225g SR flour, 4 eggs this is your base for any sponge cake. Add liquid so eg 50g of yoghurt, buttermilk, or 2-3 tablespoons of milk, this keeps it moist.
Follow a normal sponge cake recipe for 2x 20cm round cake tins, but add the chocolate like this:

Mix cake in the usual way,
Use 50g buttermilk and 1tsp strong vanilla essence for your liquid.
Mix 2 tbs of cocoa powder with 2-3tbsp of boiling water and add that in addition to your liquid after the egg mixing stage.
Put mix into 2 x 20cm round tins.

Then after it's out of the oven you poke some holes in both cakes while warm (not scorching hot though, leave for a minute) and pour chocolate syrup over the cake.

Imagine making a lemon drizzle cake, but actually you're making a chocolate drizzle cake.

Making chocolate syrup is really basic. Just mix coco with sugar and hot water. Pour it over the warm cake.

Make a filling of your choice and squish it in between the two cake layers!

I asked this one:
www.southernkitchen.com/story/recipes/2021/09/01/very-good-chocolate-cake-watershed-restaurant/5686743001/

It's very moist, and very easy to put together. I dont even use my hand mixer. You could use your 70% chocolate instead of unsweetened.

It's in volume measurements, not weight, but you might be able to buy a set of measuring cups at a TK Maxx.

I usually make a thick layer of cannoli filling with ricotta for the filling, and a simple ganache for the top.

Blooming your cocoa powder in hot liquid (hot water is fine, but coffee is even better) before adding makes a massive difference and should deal with the bitter taste you are experiencing.

This always works but is quite rich so maybe needs a milk chocolate filling. It is my go to chocolate cake. Accidentally vegan as it uses oil instead of eggs and is delicious. The coffee brings out the chocolate flavour and it's always very (awful word alert ) moist

www.grouprecipes.com/57460/moosewoods-six-minute-vegan-chocolate-cake.html

Use cocoa and mix it with a little water first, before adding it to the batter. This makes sure you get the darkness of the cocoa.

You cant go wrong with Jane’s Patisserie, and there is a step by step guide.

https://www.janespatisserie.com/2018/11/23/chocolate-cake/

Bbcgoodfood.com - Ultimate chocolate cake.
I use Bourneville chocolate. Reduce sugar by 100g & use 3 tins rather than one deep one. Put tins on the scale so they have equal amounts of mixture. 45mins in the oven is usually perfect.

Cocoa powder dries cakes out and is not chocolatey enough on its own (unless you use so much your cake is really dry).

Actual melted dark chocolate makes cakes really chocolatey, but also makes them hard. Melted milk chocolate should be avoided as it makes cakes hard without even making them very chocolatey.

So what you need is basically an ordinary sponge mix but with three things added in:

• cocoa powder
• melted dark chocolate
• an ingredient(s) to moisten and soften. This can be lots of things, even yoghurt! A PP posted a recipe with condensed milk, and I guess that would fill this function.

I don't have an exact recipe any more, but if you are trying recipes I recommend ones that include all three things.

You can also add in small chocolate chunks to any recipe. They melt slightly into the mix so they aren't crunchy/hard, but they don't affect the overall consistency, so you get wee chocolate hits which is nice.

I do the same. Cocoa powder for the cake, melted chocolate in the icing.

Have you tried and oil based cake? I find them much more moist than butter.

I do a normal sponge cake but substitute 20% of the flour for cocoa powder and then I add a few tablespoons of espresso (instant can be used) and a big tablespoon of mayo.

It’s always a hit.

Never use chocolate in the sponge just good quality cocoa powder

Nick Nairn has a chocolate cake recipe which is fabulous, it’s not a sponge cake but is dark and rich. Or you could make brownies instead, piled high and studded with candles or iced like a sheet cake, Nigellas brownie recipe is fool proof.

Best and easiest cake ever. I put melted dairy milk on top once it's cold. We all love it

My chocolate cake made with cocoa is beautifully moist. I heat up the butter and sugar then whisk in the eggs.

Try not using 70% chocolate, I would think it’s that. I get better results with milk chocolate from supermarket own brands

I find 70% is too high. I use 50-60%. This is my favourite recipe. It's very rich, but very good. Dc ask for it for every birthday.

200g butter
200g chocolate
200g sugar
5 eggs
70g flour or almond flour

Preheat the oven to 180C

Melt the chocolate and the butter together.

Separate the eggs whites from the yolks.

Whisk the yolks with the sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add the chocolate and butter mix, and the almond flour.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Fold into the mixture.

Pour into a greased and lined 22 or 24cm cake tin and bake for 20-25 minutes. The blade should not come clean, the cake must remain moist in the middle.

Top with ganache.

I use the recipe from the BBC Sponge Cake Calculator which always comes out really nice
www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/sponge_cake_calculator