Choc cake - odd recipe any help??

[FusionChefGeoff]

This is the base for an Oreo cake but needs 3 pans and only 2 eggs?? I'd expect at least 6 for 3 layers.

I don't bake much so happy to be corrected!

It looks like a US muffin style recipe rather than the sort of sponge we typically bake in the UK. They tend to have more fluid and fewer eggs.

It looks very much like the Hershey chocolate cake recipe which I've done a few times and works very well (though it isn't my personal favourite).

I'd recommend making the boiling water into coffee - something about coffee enhances the chocolatey flavour.

It's a useful recipe if you don't want to splurge too much - oil and only 2 eggs is significantly cheaper than butter and the same weight in eggs!

Tip - don't do it in a loose bottomed tin - it's far too runny!

Great thanks! Only issue is I only have loose bottom tins - will it be ok with a liner?? @OliveHenry

I think the milk will compensate for some missing egg.
I am always wary of cup based recipes though, just not accurate enough IMO, and this one has a huge proportion of sugar.

I think I would be tempted to make a regular sponge cake (so same amount of sugar, flour and fat as the weight of the eggs) and just use the Oreo buttercream recipe to sandwich.

Well it's in and my fingers are well and truly crossed as I've definitely never made a cake batter like that - it was more like a thick hot chocolate!! And yes, a bucket load of sugar so we'll see what it tastes like next week (it's going in the freezer for decorating on Sat)

This is too late and, hopefully, you should be ok, but the recipe mentions “natural” cocoa powder which is acidic. Most cocoa powders in the uk are natural, but the reason why it’s specified is that some cocoa powders are “dutched” which mean they’re washed with an alkaline solution to lower their acidity and so make them darker and more chocolatey. In this cake recipe the only raising agent is bicarb (baking soda) which needs an acid to function and so won’t work with dutched cocoa. As I said, it’s likely that you’re fine but if it doesn’t rise then this might be the reason why.

To counteract that problem identified above with the cocoa using buttermilk instead of ordinary milk would have been a good idea, too late now I know but just info in case you use it again.

As mentioned it's a typical American recipe in that there is a lot of liquid instead of egg unlike a victoria sandwich type recipe that would have no liquid. Tons of sugar too of course!

We need a picture when you’re done!