This was a very delicious cake. The icing was a bit tricky. I was in a rush and didn't let it cool enough, so it some of it came off the cake. Either way it was very good.
Very Moist Chocolate Layer Cake
Photo: Dana Gallagher
SERVES 10
The beans in cacao pods are dried in the sun before being grated, cleaned, roasted, and milled into chocolate liquor, which in turn becomes cocoa powder or eating chocolate. The next thing you know, it ends up in an irresistible chocolate cake like this one, adapted from Robbin Gourley's Cakewalk (Doubleday, 1994).
FOR THE CAKE:
1 cup milk
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, broken into chunks
2 cups all-purpose flour
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
FOR THE ICING:
2 cups granulated sugar
1⁄4 cup light corn syrup
1⁄2 cup milk
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1⁄4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1. For the cake: Scald milk in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, add chocolate, and cover. Set aside for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease three 9" cake pans and line with rounds of greased wax paper. Sift flour and salt together. Dissolve baking soda in 1⁄3 cup hot water.
3. In a mixer, cream sugars into shortening until fluffy. Add one egg at a time, continuing to beat well. Add flour and chocolate mixtures alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Beat in soda water and vanilla.
4. Divide batter equally among pans, and smooth it. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into cakes comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out of pans.
5. For the icing: Place sugar, corn syrup, milk, butter, chocolate, and salt in a saucepan and cook over low heat until melted. Over high heat boil for a minute or so (or until mixture reaches 220° on candy thermometer).
6. Pour icing into a small mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until slightly cooled. Add vanilla. Increase speed and beat until icing is workable.
7. Working fast before icing sets, spread between layers and on top of cake.
Ratings & Reviews (5)
I used the cake recipe to make cup cakes for my friend's birthday. The original batch didn't come out that chocolaty so I added 4 more oz of chocolate that i let melt in about 1/2 cup milk after batter had cooled in the fridge. Came out extremely moist & everyone loved them.
Is there something wrong with your website? I cannot access any of your recipes as all the print is jumbled together.
Very rich and chocolatey (but I accidentally used more chocolate than the recipe calls for: 6 oz instead of 4 oz). I baked it as a sheet cake and drizzled the icing, letting it pool around the edges. As a sheet cake it's thicker so I added 10-12 min extra, but probably should have added only 8-10 minutes. I'll make it again!
Hate to be a party pooper, but this cake was not moist, nor did it have a pleasant texture, rather crumbly, actually (on account of excess shortening). Flavor, though, was quite good, so it deserves more experimentation. For icing, bring to a full boil, then boil more or less one minute, as per recipe.
Very Moist Chocolate Layer Cake
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