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My Favorite Chocolate Cake

April 3, 2022 by Kaitlin Leave a Comment

I’m working on finessing a couple back-pocket recipes that are easier for me to sub in for other recipes. I’ve learned recently that I’m firmly in the camp of oil cakes; butter-based ones just don’t have the springy crumb I’m after.

Ina’s chocolate cake (AKA Beatty’s Chocolate Cake) is a recent favorite; one that dethroned Sandy’s Chocolate Cake from the top of my list. You really can’t go wrong with either of these recipes, but Ina’s has a definite edge for not requiring an electric beater (yeah, her recipe calls for it but it’s not necessary at all). That said: I missed the deeper flavor of the brown sugar, and missed the richness the sour cream provided in Sandy’s.

And thus: My Favorite Chocolate Cake was born.

It’s not terribly sweet, which makes it perfect for pairing with your favorite American-style buttercream, which are typically sweeter than Swiss or Italian iterations. As for my recommendations, go with Ina’s Chocolate Frosting at the link above or a classic American-Style Buttercream like this one listed on Food Network. As a note, I omit the yolk from Ina’s and multiply the American-style buttercream recipe by 2 to be safe.

Achieve the springy speckled finish with cocoa and vanilla (or vodka). Watch my DIY Speckle Cake TikTok for detailed instructions.

My Favorite Chocolate cake

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 c (260g) flour
  • 2 c (450g) brown sugar
  • 3/4 c (80g) cocoa powder
  • 2.5 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 c (185g) 2% fat Greek Yogurt, room temp
  • 1/4 c (60g) milk, room temp
  • 1/2 c (110g) canola oil
  • 2 eggs, room temp
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 c coffee, hot (alternately use a double shot of espresso and top off with enough hot water to make a full cup)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Oil and line two 8″ cake tins. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. If you see any large clumps of cocoa powder, break them up with your fingers.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, milk, canola oil, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk well to combine.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, fold and stir the thick batter until just a few streaks remain. This batter is quite forgiving, but do be careful to prevent over-mixing at this step because you still need to add the coffee.
  5. When the batter is pretty well combined, pour in the hot coffee all in one go, then use the spatula to cut, fold, and stir the batter until it is homogenous. This step seems dicey, but it works!
  6. Divide the batter between the two tins (approximately 740g each if you’re measuring). Bake 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when you test the center. The cake usually has the slightest dimple in the center – don’t let that frighten you.
  7. Cool in tins 10 minutes before inverting on a rack to cool completely.
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Modifying a fav chocolate cake recipe into somethi Modifying a fav chocolate cake recipe into something a little more my own. Brown sugar. Greek yogurt. Espresso. Pretty darn good. Continuing with the speckle theme from the last cake too because it’s just so darn fun to do. 

I was terrified to submit my cakes to the oven after the revisions I made to the recipe I was working from. They turned out perfectly, which was a huge relief considering the amount of bizarrely cratered cakes I’ve been turning out lately! That frustration put a bad taste in my mouth, so I sought out other hobbies as a reprieve. I fell back into knitting, which felt great, but it’s very time consuming 😉 I knocked a couple sweaters off my list on Ravelry and have a couple more I want to make. 

Relatedly, I know I’ve shared it before but here’s another friendly reminder that your local library probably grants you access to all sorts of virtual classes via a free app. Whether you want to learn how to work with fondant or sew a bra, there’s plenty of exciting new hobbies to explore.
The cranberry frosting on this cake is incredible The cranberry frosting on this cake is incredible but goodness gracious: the cake is absolutely not! I’ve made two yellow cakes in a row - different recipes - and they’ve both ended up with crazy tunnels like I’ve never experienced in my life. I was telling @meghan_splawn recently that I feel like I can’t get anything right until the third try these days, even things I have plenty of experience with (hello?! I can bake a cake!!). It’s driving me absolutely nuts. Tell me your favorite yellow cake recipe and help me break this curse? #f52grams #f52community #thebakefeed #weekendbaking #cake #beautifulcuisines #huffposttaste #thekitchn #instafood #bareaders #bakemore #williamssonoma #rslove #bakewithus #makemore
Stay-Soft Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls Cinnamon rolls a Stay-Soft Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls 

Cinnamon rolls are like new cars. The second they leave the oven, their value begins to drop immediately. Really: a cooled cinnamon roll is just…. Not that great. But this @kingarthurbaking recipe gets around that by cleverly incorporating tangzhong (cooked flour and milk), ensuring a soft, pillow texture much longer than traditional cinnamon rolls. Swipe to the last slide to see how soft the rolls are even hours after baking. I can personally attest that they’re excellent even the next day 😉 

I recently finished one of those massive 7-oz containers of cinnamon - before the expiration date! - which felt like some sort of life achievement. Baking these seemed like a great reason to bust into a new container of Ceylon cinnamon 💪 
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#bakeoftheweek #recipeoftheyear #bakewithus #makemore #williamssonoma #imsomartha #feedfeed @thefeedfeed #buzzfeast #thekitchn #f52grams #thebakefeed #bonappetit #beautifulcuisines #eeeeeats #tastecooking #madeinstaub
I’ll never tire of star bread. I posted a reel t I’ll never tire of star bread. I posted a reel to show how it’s made (check my feed if you missed it!). The process is really so fun and not as hard as you might expect 😚
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#feedfeed @thefeedfeed #thebakefeed #bakewithus #makemore #cinnamonrolls #imsomartha #instafood #beautifulcuisines #huffposttaste #buzzfeast #thespruceeats #tastecooking #thekitchn #kingarthurbaking #dessert #eeeeeats #breadbosses #f52grams #f52bakingclub #thekitchn #redstaryeast
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