Making a chocolate cake from scratch is always fun. While it isn’t difficult, a lot of people prefer to pick up a box from the local bakery. If you, however, love to bake and make your sweet desserts, then you should learn some of the secrets to making the perfect, moist and creamy chocolate cakes right there in your home kitchen.
While there are many recipes for making chocolate cake, it always pays to learn from experienced bakers to make your evening tea the best:
Use premium unsweetened cocoa powder
The best chocolate cakes have a deep, rich flavor depends on the quality of the cocoa powder that you use. Make sure that you use the best variety of cocoa powder that you can find in the bakery supply store. Don’t use the cocoa powder used for beverages and other stuff, ask for that used in cakes. Unsweetened cocoa powder makes it easy for you to correctly measure how much sugar you want to add to your cake. Look out for superfine cocoa powder or a premium natural brand that you can trust.
Shiny pans work best for baking chocolate cakes
Expert bakers swear that shiny pans bake better chocolate cakes than dark ones. This anomaly is because dark pans absorb a lot of the oven's heat and do not allow the cake to cook correctly. This heat issue is why some chocolate cakes come out dry, prematurely brown and hard-crusted. If you are worried about a shiny pan sticking to the dough, grease it properly, line with non-stick paper or dust it with some cocoa powder to ensure your cake comes out whole and cooks properly.
Measure exact portions of flour and sugar
Using too much sugar gives you a chocolate cake with a darkened crust. If you add too much flour to the cake mixture, the top of the cake will crack and make it come out unattractive. As much as possible, weigh out exact amounts of sugar and flour that you are using. If you don’t have a scale in the kitchen, get one or use precise volume measurements for accurate results. Do not ever wing it as you will end up with a chocolate cake that is either too dark or too hard.
Cream the butter and sugar properly
Here is another underrated step in making chocolate cake. The more time you spend beating the butter and sugar, the fluffier your cake will be. If your hands get tired quickly, buy yourself a mixer.
Consult your local baking supply store for the right tools for a perfect chocolate cake, and you'll be well along your way toward being the family and neighborhood cake boss.
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