I'm trying to create a chocolate cake recipe that will rise nicely and
have a fine moist crumb. It is to be used as a layer cake so it needs
to be sturdy as well. I've experimented with lots of recipes to find
the right flavors and now I'm trying to build up the "sturdiness
factor". I'm using traditional cake methods... beating butter and
sugar, adding eggs, etc.. The problem is that I've found I like the
taste of melted chocolate over powder. The recipe, as expected, turns
out flat because of the warmed melted chocolate melting the fat and
removing the air bubbles. I'm trying to drizzle the melted chocolate
into the flour/butter/eggs mixture, but it's still coming out
relatively flat. It tastes great and is moist but I'm looking for a
better rise. Can anyone provide any instructions?
Thanks!

wrote:
> I'm trying to create a chocolate cake recipe that will rise nicely and
> have a fine moist crumb. It is to be used as a layer cake so it needs
> to be sturdy as well. I've experimented with lots of recipes to find
> the right flavors and now I'm trying to build up the "sturdiness
> factor". I'm using traditional cake methods... beating butter and
> sugar, adding eggs, etc.. The problem is that I've found I like the
> taste of melted chocolate over powder. The recipe, as expected, turns
> out flat because of the warmed melted chocolate melting the fat and
> removing the air bubbles. I'm trying to drizzle the melted chocolate
> into the flour/butter/eggs mixture, but it's still coming out
> relatively flat. It tastes great and is moist but I'm looking for a
> better rise. Can anyone provide any instructions?
> Thanks!

Can't answer your question directly but what recipes have you been
using? You'll have to figure out how much fat, solids, and moisture is
in the chocolate you're using and adjust the recipe accordingly. I
believe that one square of chocolate is equal to 3 tablespoons of cocoa
powder plus 1 tablespoon shortening. For a chocolate cake I always hot
water in the recipe instead of milk. It brings out the flavor of the
chocolate more than milk does. I just dissolve the cocoa powder in the
hot water, let it cool, and then add it to the batter. A little bit of
coffee also brings out the chocolate flavor.

The simplest way to minimize loss of aeration .
Fold the melted chocolate into a quarter of amount of the total cake
batter; then fold that chocolate/batter mixture carefully into the
rest of the cake batter.
See the difference in result now....

wrote:
> I'm trying to create a chocolate cake recipe that will rise nicely and
> have a fine moist crumb. It is to be used as a layer cake so it needs
> to be sturdy as well. I've experimented with lots of recipes to find
> the right flavors and now I'm trying to build up the "sturdiness
> factor". I'm using traditional cake methods... beating butter and
> sugar, adding eggs, etc.. The problem is that I've found I like the
> taste of melted chocolate over powder. The recipe, as expected, turns
> out flat because of the warmed melted chocolate melting the fat and
> removing the air bubbles. I'm trying to drizzle the melted chocolate
> into the flour/butter/eggs mixture, but it's still coming out
> relatively flat. It tastes great and is moist but I'm looking for a
> better rise. Can anyone provide any instructions?
> Thanks!

wrote:
> I'm trying to create a chocolate cake recipe that will rise nicely and
> have a fine moist crumb. It is to be used as a layer cake so it needs
> to be sturdy as well. I've experimented with lots of recipes to find
> the right flavors and now I'm trying to build up the "sturdiness
> factor". I'm using traditional cake methods... beating butter and
> sugar, adding eggs, etc.. The problem is that I've found I like the
> taste of melted chocolate over powder. The recipe, as expected, turns
> out flat because of the warmed melted chocolate melting the fat and
> removing the air bubbles. I'm trying to drizzle the melted chocolate
> into the flour/butter/eggs mixture, but it's still coming out
> relatively flat. It tastes great and is moist but I'm looking for a
> better rise. Can anyone provide any instructions?
> Thanks!
>


Are you using baking soda as well as baking powder? Chocolate cakes or
quickbreads usually require it.

gloria p