Chocolate Layer Cake Tips By Shana Smith Vice President of Strategic Partnerships Upper Crust Food Service
1. Follow the recipe , especially the first time you make it. This goes for equipment instructions, too. Make sure you are using the appropriate-sized pan to prevent dense cakes, sunken cakes, overflowing cakes and flimsy cakes. Recipes are typically tested to perfection, so go with what is recommended. 2. When you see “ room temperature ” listed next to an ingredient, it means room temperature. Its not there for fun or as a recommendation; it’s required, particularly for desserts like chocolate cake. Room temperature ingredients bond together easier and quicker since they are warmer, thus reducing the risk of over-mixing, which yields a dense, chewy cake. 3. Measuring properly is a critical part of the baking process. The difference between a recipe success and failure could lie within one mismeasured tablespoon of sugar. 4. Don’t overmix, and don’t undermix. You have to find the sweet spot. Overmixing results in a dense, tough cake. Undermixing results in the ingredients not being well-incorporated, and no one wants to bite into a scrambled egg. 5. Use natural cocoa powder in this chocolate cake recipe – not Dutch-processed cocoa powder, which
contains leavening agents to make a baked good rise. This recipe already has leavening agents. 6. This cake recipe calls for coffee , but it will not make the cake taste like coffee. Similar to how salt extenuates sugar, the coffee brings out the rich flavor of the chocolate. 7. Use parchment paper rounds to prepare your pans appropriately. This guarantees the ultimate non-stick environment for your cakes. Spray the bottom of these rounds so they stick to the pans and so batter doesn’t seep underneath them. 8. Don’t open the oven and peek at your cake! Opening causes cool air to enter your oven, and that can have a drastic temperature change causing the rising cake to sink. 9. Do the bounce-back test to see if your cake is cooked through. Gently press down on the center of the cake. If it bounces back completely, then it is done. If you finger leaves an indentation, then it needs more time in the oven. 10. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before running a knife around the edges and gently
flipping it out of the pan. Place it on a wire rack away from the hot oven to cool completely.
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