Monday, June 18, 2012

Black & White Cake


Super-dark chocolate cake looks stunning with bright white icing. This cake is so moist that is doesn't slice very neatly (as you can see), but boy is it delicious! The dark chocolate color really looks black when you put it next to white icing. This comes from using Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder and strong coffee. This recipe is inspired by the classic Hershey's chocolate cake recipe, but I have made several adjustments until I have something that I like even better than the original:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep two 9" or 10" round cake pans with parchment paper.

1 3/4 Cups All-purpose Flour
2 cups Sugar
3/4 Cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Cup hot strong coffee

In a large mixer bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. (To make it easier, you can just mix this in your KitchenAid mixer on low until well-combined).

In a smaller bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add the milk, oil, vanilla and stir well.

Add the egg/milk mixture into the dry ingredients and beat on medium for about 90 seconds.

Add the coffee in last, stirring by hand just until it is thoroughly mixed. This batter is very liquidy, so don't be alarmed when it looks thin. 

Bake approximately 30-35 minutes (until the center springs back to the touch or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).

Cool and frost with Seven Minute Icing

When slicing, wipe the knife clean in between cuts. You may even want to run the knife under hot water before cutting to make it even cleaner. But let's face it - when you have a really moist dark cake with white icing, you're going to get crumbs all in it. Oh well. Enjoy! :)






6 comments:

  1. Looks delicious! Would love a piece actually! Don't forget to come and Vote tomorrow on Foodie Friends Friday!

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  2. Made this cake and wow! It was amazing!!!!! Great recipe

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    Replies
    1. Glad you like it! It is one of my favorites.

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    2. Glad you like it! It is one of my favorites.

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  3. Hi Christa,
    Thank you so much for posting these recipes and sharing your hard work. Here are my questions:
    1.Have you tried these various cake recipes with making your own cake flour? I've seen recipes for reducing all purpose by 2TB per cup and replacing with 2TB corn starch and sift, sift, sift (or more).
    2. I have been reducing the sugar by half in most all my cake/cookie recipes to suit our taste and diet needs. I heard sugar is considered a "liquid" in a cake. Have you tried this and does it make a difference in texture for you with regards to these lighter/finer cakes?
    3. We have been replacing shortening or butter (at least 1/2) with oil or Smart and Balance also for dietary reasons. Have you tried this?
    I have been on a quest for some years to find and adapt old recipes with these changes but haven't been happy with the results when trying to make a light/fine cake (like wedding cake texture). I am striving to get the texture of a cake mix, without using a mix. So far, I have tried adapting a Wilton recipe without success and several online moist cake recipes. I recently tried one of Wilton's chocolate cakes where they call for mayonnaise which I did and I made the other adaptions above but it came out dense and rubbery. Just wondering if you have attempted any of these changes and with what success?
    4. You use Hersheys chocolate here. I have been using a dutch process cocoa, but read somewhere that it wasn't good to use this in certain recipes. Do you have any idea why this might not be the case?
    Thanks again.

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  4. Anonymous, I'm not Christa and don't represent her, but I found your post interesting so I am responding. It's only been in the last few years I began to realize cooking is science, and the various categories of ingredients represent more than just "sweetener" or "moisture" or "leavener." That said, I don't know that one can make the dramatic -drastic? changes you're talking about to recipes and expect anything like the original. This is just my opinion, mind you, but for myself and my household, I make recipes as written: full fat, full sugar, etc., but I bake them in a way that allows me to give away at least half (no one at work ever complains) so we can have a serving for a treat, but not have a large quantity of dessert continuously calling from the kitchen. Just a thought, Anonymous, and again, not related to Christa at all. Diane aka anonymous

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