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Saturday, June 18, 2011

Happy Father's Day chocolate cake

. . . . S T A T U S
Mood : ok-ok

I was enthusiastic to bake a cake today. I viewed a number of videos on how to bake chocolate cake before making the decision to bake one myself. I thought of baking chocolate cake because I thought that it is the easiest. = ( I was wrong.

I faced a few difficulties when baking this cake. I actually wanted to bake this cake for tomorrow's Father Day. I thought that baking it today, frosted it and placed it in the refrigerator, tomorrow will be just nice to take it out to be served. Things didn't turned out that well as planned though. = (

I got this recipe from Hershey's Chocolate Cake Recipe online.


Chocolate Cake 



Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder (I didn't use Hershey's brand)
1 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup boiling water/1 cup of 3-in-1 instant hot coffee
1 - 3/4 flour
1 - 1/2 baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting 
Butter
Powdered sugar (icing sugar) (make sure it is really POWDER!)
Cooking chocolate (chopped, melted)
Milk
Vanilla extract
* I didn't measure these ingredients for frosting because I just did it by rough. 



Utensils 
Big bowl
Spoon
Fork
Electric mixer
Wax paper
Baking containers
Sifter
Knife
Drying tray (to allow your cakes to dry)


Procedures

CAKE
  1. Preheat your oven at 350 degrees Celsius. Grease your baking containers. 
  2. Use a fork to "whisk" the dry ingredients: flour (sift first), white sugar, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking soda and baking powder. 
  3. Pour in eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract into the dry ingredients mixture bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat the mixture for approximately 2 minutes.
  4. Pour in hot water slowly into the mixture as beating it with high speed will cause the mixture to spill out. Beat the mixture till even. The batter is very thin. 
  5. Pour the mixture into the baking container and put them into the oven to be baked for 30-35 minutes. 
FROSTING
  1. Mix the butter and powdered sugar into a bowl. 
  2. Pour in milk and beat with electric mixer. 
  3. Beat till you think the consistency is right. Add sugar to make it thick. Add water to make it thin.
  4. Add in melted chocolate and vanilla extract into the mixture and continue beat it until the mixture of frosting is in the right consistency as you desired. 

BE CAREFUL!

  • Do not keep opening the oven to check your cake. Peep through the glass of the oven. Keep opening the oven before the cake is fully cooked will cause the cake to be "spoiled". I did this mistake.
  • Check your cake by poking the middle of the cake with a toothpick. If there is no batter stain on your toothpick, you can take your cake out to be cooled. 
  • Do not over bake your chocolate bake or else it will CRACK. I did this mistake. My cake cracked. I baked it at 30 minutes. So, time your cake properly. 
  • Get your ingredients ready before starting your baking work. I think this makes things more organized and lessen baking frustration. 

In the kitchen when magic happens...

Ingredients to create the magic spell of chocolate cake.


Pour in all the dry ingredients 

Pour in all the dry ingredients as required.


Use a fork to whisk it. 
If you have a whisk, use a whisk. 
My house don't have whisk. 


Pour in the eggs and other liquids. 



Get the vanilla extract into the mixture. 
It's almost there!


Beat the mixture for 2 minutes approximately. 
Then, I substituted hot water with hot instant 3-in-1 coffee.


That is how watery the batter is according to the measurements given in the recipe.
I wondered if the measuring is correct.


Grease the baking containers, put in the wax paper (I used A4 = = ")
Then pour in your done mixture into the baking containers. 
They are ready to be baked in a short while.


Ta-daaa..
In the oven, baking. 


Check with a toothpick. 
I know my cake is cracked.
It's like earthquake. 


Poke centre alright? 
Not at the side or the top or anywhere. 
Just the centre.


One of the cakes has sticky batter stained on the toothpick. 
It's blurr and I don't make the effort to re-snap. 


Into the oven again.
My house oven looks good but I can't master it. 
And I hate it very much!


My chocolate cakes which are similar to earthquakes aftermath. 


That's the drying tray I'm talking about. 
Flip and over-flip. 
There you go... 
Remember not to do it straight away after it is taken out from oven.
I did this stupid mistake. 
My cake cracked even more and it actually had a hole there. =(
A small piece was torn out due to my excessive force so that it will come out from the freaking container.


The nicer one. 
The ugly one is not qualified to have a photo.


I let it cool with the fan switched on blowing it. 
The time varies I guess.
So long as your cake has cooled down completely, you can start frosting them. 

I did my frosting after I baked my cake (while I'm waiting for it to cool down)


The side red colour things are water guava (jambu air, direct translation, crazy)
It tastes good. Chocolate fruit. I love it!


In the refrigerator.. 
They look.. Idk.. I know it's not very good.. 
It's one of my best product anyway.. 
It doesn't taste too sweet.
I'm not a sweet tooth person. 
Neither my family. 
Semi-sweet will do. 
I reduced the recipe sugar myself.


In the refrigerator.
They look acceptably nice under my refrigerator small spot-light
Haaaaa.. 
I was a little upset though because my cake cracked and it didn't really turned out like I expected.
As usual. That is why I HATE BAKING!


The frosting hardened quite fast. 
It took only 1/2 hours and the chocolate on the cake is semi hard.
I mean, it is not that liquid (doesn't stain hand)



Closer look.
I know they don't look very good. 
I tried my best though.
It's because of the cracking that cause the cake not to have a smooth surface. 
= ( 



It's easy to cut.
Not hard at all. 
It's a moist cake I can say.
Due to the chocolate frosting, it is really rich in chocolate flavour. 
So overall I think it is a successful cake with poor appearance. 



HAPPY FATHER'S DAY in advanced! 

I got this somewhere in the net which I think is useful for those poor bakers like me. Hope it helps to solve your problems!

Bakeware

Be sure to use the pan size called for in the recipe. To check the width of a pan, measure across the top from inside edge to inside edge.

Use shiny metal pans for baking cakes. They reflect heat away, producing a tender, lighter-colored crust.

Use caution when using dark nonstick baking pans or glass baking dishes. Read and follow the manufacturer's directions. Since these pans absorb more heat, results may be better if the baking temperature is reduced by 25 degrees F. 

Baking

Bake cakes with the oven rack placed in the center of the oven, unless the recipe states differently. Bake only on one rack.


Cooling

Cakes should be cooled completely on wire racks. Cool round cakes in their pans 10 minutes, then loosen by running a thin knife between the cake and the edge of the pan and remove the cakes from pans to wire racks. Rectangular cakes (often in 13x9-inch baking pans) can be cooled completely in the pan or cooled 10 minutes in the pan and then removed to a wire rack to cool completely.


Frosting

Frost cakes when they are completely cooled, or the frosting will melt or slide off the cake.


Making a Cake Recipe into Cupcakes

Follow cupcake preparation directions in the recipe, but if the recipe does not have specific instructions, be aware that most cake recipes can be made into cupcakes. Use the following guidelines.

Line cupcake pans with paper baking cups; fill cups 1/2 to 3/4 full with cake batter.

Bake cupcakes at the same temperature the cake called required and begin checking for doneness at 16 minutes.

Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Expect a yield of about 1-1/2 to 2 dozen cupcakes from a recipe calling for about 2-1/4 cups of flour.

Storage & Cutting

Follow cupcake preparation directions in the recipe, but if the recipe does not have specific instructions, be aware that most cake recipes can be made into cupcakes. Use the following guidelines.

Line cupcake pans with paper baking cups; fill cups 1/2 to 3/4 full with cake batter.

Bake cupcakes at the same temperature the cake called required and begin checking for doneness at 16 minutes.

Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Expect a yield of about 1-1/2 to 2 dozen cupcakes from a recipe calling for about 2-1/4 cups of flour.

Troubleshooting


Refer to this checklist to figure out why a cake did not turn out as expected.



If a homemade cake has a coarse texture
Too much baking soda or baking powder may have been used.
Not enough liquid may have been used.
The butter and sugar may not have been beaten together long enough. If the recipe calls for creaming butter and sugar, or beating until light and fluffy, this should take at least three to four minutes of beating.
The oven temperature was too low.





If a homemade cake is too dry
Too much flour or leavening (baking soda/baking powder) was used.
Flour was not measured properly (see measuring tips).
Not enough shortening or sugar was used.
The cake was over-baked - the oven temperature was too high and/or the baking time was too long.


If a homemade cake fell (the center of the cake sinks)
The cake was under-baked - the oven temperature was too low and/or the baking time was too short.
The liquid was over or under measured.
The pan was too small - the batter was too deep.
The cake was moved or jarred before it
was sufficiently baked.
Old or expired baking powder was used.
A wooden pick or cake tester was inserted into the cake before it was sufficiently set.


If a homemade cake has low volume or is too flat
The liquid was over- or under-measured.
The batter was under-mixed or extremely over-mixed.
Too large a pan was used.
The oven temperature was too low or too high.


If a homemade cake has a peaked center
The batter was over-mixed.
The oven temperature was too hot.


If a homemade cake shrinks excessively around the edges
The baking pans were greased too heavily.
The baking pans were placed too close together in the oven.
There was too little batter in the baking pan.
The batter was extremely over-mixed.
There was too little liquid in the batter.
The cake was over-baked - either too long a time or at too high a temperature.


If a homemade cake is soggy
The cake was moved or jarred before it was sufficiently baked.
The cake was under-baked - the oven temperature was too low and/or the baking time was too short.
Old or expired baking powder was used.




If a homemade cake has a spotted crust
The batter was probably under-mixed.



If a homemade cake has a sticky top crust
The cake was stored while still warm.
The liquid was over measured.
The cake was under-baked - the oven temperature was too low and/or the baking time was too short.
The air humidity was too high.




If a homemade cake has tunnels throughout the layer
The oven temperature was too high.
The batter was under-mixed or extremely over-mixed.




If a homemade cake has uneven browning
There was uneven heat circulation in the oven.
The baking pans were placed too close together in the oven.
If a homemade cake has uneven layers, the following problems may have occurred:
The oven rack was not level.
The cake pans were warped or bent.


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