I recently got emailed a question about my Easy Chocolate Cake recipe, along with questions about chocolate in general, which you can find here.  I love it when readers email me questions and this was an amazing one that I had to share with you.

Hello,

I’ve recently seen your videos on YouTube and look forward to making your Easy Chocolate Cake. I have had difficulties with the half dozen different chocolate cake recipes I’ve tried being they are lacking the deep chocolate taste. This is leading me to believe the cocoa powder I’m using (fresh from the store) just isn’t high enough quality.

My question: Would you be so kind as to recommend some brands/products you like? Or the cocoa you work with? And what brands/products for the semi sweet bars for frostings?  This would make I’m sure a world of difference for my cakes and my family won’t have to painfully eat another dull chocolate cake!

I look forward to any recommendations you have and any tips!

Thank you for your time.

Denise S.

My response:

Hello Denise,

The cocoa I use is from Guittard Chocolate Company, and is not available in the grocery store.  It is a high fat cocoa, approx. 25%. Bulk cocoa can be purchased with a varying fat content range, from 6% to 30%.  The higher the percentage of fat, the more flavor.

The coffee in the cake recipe will enhance the chocolate flavor.  The coffee is regular brew–not too strong.  If the coffee is too strong and the cocoa too low in fat, you’ll notice the coffee flavor overpowers the chocolate. The vanilla also brings out the chocolate flavor.

When I make chocolate frosting, I prefer adding melted chocolate rather than cocoa  to vanilla buttercream.  It’s just my personal preference…but many chocolate buttercream recipes call for cocoa. I like to use equal parts unsweetened chocolate and semisweet chocolate.  The semisweet chocolate I use is a Belgian chocolate (Callebaut).  Chocolate is really personal…everyone seems to think their personal favorite is the world’s best!  I’ve used Callebaut for 30 years because it suits my taste and I love it.

If you want to use a high quality bar chocolate that’s  readily available, I suggest Lindt.  You’ll notice that chocolate bars these days boldly display a % number on the package.  That refers to the amount of chocolate product in the
bar; so you can assume that the higher % will indicate a darker, stronger chocolate.

Sounds like you like strong chocolate.  Try the Lindt 70%.  If that is too mild, try the 80%, and keep tasting until you find your preference.

If you’re wanting more chocolate flavor than what you get in a buttercream, try icing your cake with cold ganache.

Ganache:

1. Heat 1 C of heavy cream to a simmer.

2. Turn off the heat, add 6 ounces  of chopped semisweet or bittersweet (NOT unsweetened) chocolate.

3. Whisk to blend; be sure all of the chocolate is melted.

4. Pour through a strainer.

5. Refrigerate until it is the consistency of frosting.  If the ganache  is too firm, warm it up, add a little
cream to thin.  This keeps for several weeks in the fridge.

Note:  depending on the cocoa butter content, different chocolates will
produce ganache of different texture.  Just play with the cream to
chocolate ratio until you get what you want.

Hope this helps.

Judy Parks
ChocolateBakery.com

——

I hope the following advice helps you and future baking adventures.   As always, please feel free to ask me any baking related questions, about my recipes that I share on this blog, or baking in general!  Thank you Denise for the wonderful question!

Having worked with and around pastries most of my life, I have to admit that there are times when I get tired of cake and cookie products. But no matter how bored I get of pastries, ice cream is always appealing.

My favorite dessert and ultimate guilty pleasure is a banana split. But I don’t like just any banana split. I like it with gourmet ice cream, and homemade chocolate and caramel sauce. Although making it is slightly more difficult than buying, the homemade toppings make all the difference in the world. Below is a recipe for my favorite chocolate sauce. The great thing is that once you’ve made the sauce, you can store it for several months.

What you’ll need:

½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
pinch of  salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla

What you do:

1. Mix the cocoa powder and the water in a saucepan. Heat and stir to dissolve the cocoa.

2. Add the sugar, and stir to dissolve.

3. Boil for 3 minutes over medium heat. Be careful not to let it get too hot and boil over!

4. Add the salt and the vanilla.

5. Let it cool.

6. Pour into a clean glass jar and store in the refrigerator.

The final product keeps for several months…but good luck keeping it around that long!

This recipe will yields two cups total.

I’ve been noticing the increasing trend towards gluten-free products, especially dessert. While I have often found it difficult to create a gluten-free product that actually looks and tastes like its flour based relative, this recipe will please ALL chocolate lovers- gluten-free or not.

Although  this isn’t the easiest recipe in the world, the outcome is WELL worth the effort. The final product is a rich, yet light, chocolate mousse type cake that melts in  your mouth and leaves you seriously considering a second piece. Or a third… but who’s counting?

Chocolatissimo  (Gluten-free Chocolate Cake)

Makes 1 – 9” cake
Ingredients:
8 oz. semisweet chocolate
2 Tbl. Liquid coffee
2 oz. butter
½ C sugar
6 oz. butter, room temperature
8  Eggs, separated
1/3 C. sugar
¼ tsp. cream of tartar.

Instructions:
1.     Pre-heat oven to 350.      Grease the bottom of a 9” springform pan.  Sprinkle with cocoa just to coat and set aside.
2.    Melt the chocolate, coffee and 2 oz. of the butter over a hot water bath.  Stir together, set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
3.    Cream  together the remaining butter and ½ C sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the chocolate mixture, blend well.
4.    Add the yolks, 2 at a time, blending well and scraping the bowl between additions.  Beat for a total of 7 to 8 minutes.
5.    In a clean bowl, whip the whites until they begin to foam.  Add the cream of tartar, then begin adding the 1/3 C sugar gradually, 1 Tbl. At a time.  Whip to medium peaks.
6.    Fold the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
7.    Pour a little over half of the batter into the prepared pan.  Spread the batter to level it. Refrigerate the remaining batter.
8.    Bake for 35 – 45 minutes until firm.  The cake will rise up, then crack.  When done, the cake will feel firm when jiggled.
9.    Cool to room temp.  The cake will sink in the center.  Gently push the crust down.  Spread the remaining batter on top.  Refrigerate at least 4 hours before unmolding.
10.    Unmold the cake, garnish with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  This cake freezes well.

Please, leave any comments or questions below!  Let me know how the recipe worked for you, how it tasted, what you would add or change.

As always, I invite you to also share this with friends and fellow baking enthusiasts!

This past weekend was spent in floury flurry as I baked and cooked for Sunday dinner.  As is usually the case, I was in charge of dessert and bread for our holiday gathering. Being both a professional baker and avid recipe collector, I used this weekend to try out some recipes I’d been holding on to for a while; all which were met with positive reviews.

The recipe and following pictures were the result of my baking a Portugese Easter Bread. While typical Easter breads are generally made with a sweetened white bread recipe , I decided to switch things up this year and try something different. The result was a softer sweeter and more tender bread. (Any left over bread makes GREAT French Toast),

Below, you will see the most important steps in the process so that you will know just what each distinct phase of the bread making should look like.

Portuguese Easter Bread 

(Makes 1 round braided loaf – I doubled the recipe to feed a large party.)

What you will need:

2/3 C milk, warmed to 95 degrees
1 pkg. active dry yeast
3 Tbl. soft butter
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 C all purpose flour (approximately)

1 egg beaten with 1 Tbl. water for egg wash

3 or 4 dyed eggs, uncooked

Directions:

1.  Stir the yeast into the warm milk.  Set aside.

2. Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, blend butter, sugar  and salt just to combine.

3.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla.

4.  Add milk and yeast.

5.  Mix in half of the flour, then change to the dough hook attachment, and add the remaining flour. Mix approximately 2 minutes, then adjust the consistency of the dough with more flour or milk to make a soft, elastic, tacky dough.  Mix approximately 6 – 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

6.  Form the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat it with oil.  Cover with plastic wrap, let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in volume.  When the dough is lightly pressed with a finger, a dent will remain in the dough.  This will take 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

7.  Punch the dough down.  Divide it into 3 equal pieces.  Form the pieces into balls.  Cover with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rest 15 minutes.

8.  Roll each piece of dough into a long strand, about 20″ long.  Loosely braid the 3 strands as you would for braiding hair.

9.  Form a ring, connect the ends of the braid by pressing the ends of the dough together.  Place on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.  Brush egg wash onto the ring.  Nestle the dyed eggs into the dough, in between the braided strands.

10.  Cover with a large inverted bowl.  Place the loaf in a warm place and let rise until  almost doubled in bulk, approximately 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.

11. Remove the bowl, brush the loaf again with eggwash.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven approximately 35 to 40 minutes, until golden, and the internal temperature registers 195 degrees when taken with an instant read thermometer.

If you want a soft crust, lightly brush melted butter immediately onto the hot bread.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe!  As always, please leave in questions in a comment below.  Please share this with friends and family on Facebook!

Happy Easter everyone!

I’ll be giving away my recipe for Easy Chocolate Cake with full video tutorial to you today. It will be followed by step-by-step instructions in decorating your Easy Chocolate Cake for Easter with photos.  Also, apart of this post will be a Blog Post Contest where one lucky reader will win 1 Free Birthday Cake from Chocolate Bakery.  Let’s get started!

Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe

I love this cake because it is so chocolaty and so easy. The mixing time is very quick; it goes together in a matter or minutes. This moist cake keeps well for days.

Easy Chocolate Layer Cake

2 C sugar
2 C all purpose flour
1 C cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt

2 eggs
2/3 C vegetable oil
1 C buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract.

¾ C brewed coffee

1. Pre-heat oven to 3500. Line two 8” x 2” deep, or two 9” x 2” deep cake pans with
parchment paper rounds and grease the sides. Set aside.
2. Sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, blend or whisk together the eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla.
4. With the mixer running on low, pour about 2/3 of the total egg mixture into the dry
ingredients. Mix approximately 30 seconds, then scrape the bowl very well. Blend on low
speed briefly until everything is blended.
5. With the mixer on low, add the remaining egg mixture in a slow steady stream. Scrape the
bowl, continue mixing briefly until the mixture is uniform.
6. With the mixer on low, add the coffee in a steady stream. Scrape well, blend approximately
30 seconds until smooth. The batter will be thin.
7. Divide the batter into the pans. Bake approximately 25 – 30 minutes, until a toothpick
comes out clean, and the center springs back when gently touched.
8. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 20 minutes. Run a metal spatula or knife around the
edge, and turn out the cakes onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
9. Use your favorite frosting to fill and frost the cake.

Old Fashioned Butter Frosting

8 ounces butter, soft and pliable
1 lb. powdered sugar, sifted (approximately 4 C)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 to 4 Tbl milk, or more or less as needed

1.Blend the butter to soften. Blend in powdered sugar, 1 C at a time. Add 1 Tbl. of milk after
each addition of powdered sugar.
2. Blend in vanilla.
3. Adjust the consistency of the icing with more milk or powdered sugar if needed.

Below, I’ve created a step-by-step video tutorial for you on baking this cake:

This cake is perfect to bake for special birthdays.  Below are my 5 favorite birthday cakes to bake.  You can also order these from ChocolateBakery.com for any special birthdays you may have coming up this month.

Easter Basket Cake Decoration

Easter is right around the corner, so why not decorate this delicious cake for it?  Below, I’ve given one my favorite ways to decorate any cake, especially your Easy Chocolate Cake, appropriately for Easter!

Step 1:  Ice a 2-layer round cake with light chocolate buttercream.  Use dental floss to mark 3 evenly spaced horizontal lines around the cake.

Step 3:  This is the completed basket weave.

Step 4:  Place approximately ¼ C of coconut in a plastic baggie with a few drops of green food coloring.  Shake the bag well until the coconut is green.  This technique will keep the dye from coloring your hands green!

Step 5 & 6:   Cover the top surface of the cake with green coconut.

Step 7:  Place Easter candies on top.

Step 8:  Insert a wired ribbon for the basket handle.

Your Easy Chocolate Cake is now decorated for Easter!  If you want, please leave any questions in a comment below.

Contest: Win 1 Free Birthday Cake from Chocolate Bakery

Ok!  If you made this far into this monster blog post, I would love to show my appreciation to my readers, fans, and customers.

I’ll be throwing a contest on this specific blog post.  Everyone has birthdays, or know of someone’s birthday every single month.  Birthday’s are a very special day to spend with loved ones, family and friends….and also a delicious birthday cake!

I would like to give you the chance to win 1 Free Birthday Cake from ChocolateBakery.com.  This can be for yourself or a family or friend’s birthday coming up.  It just takes a minute to enter.

Directions:  

Step 1:  Share in a comment on this blog post below any of the following:

a) Have you ordered anything from ChocolateBakery.com before?  If so, we would love to hear in a few sentences about your experience and your story with us.

b)  If you haven’t ordered from ChocolateBakery.com yet, please share why you would like to win 1 Free Birthday Cake from ChocolateBakery.com…. who it would be for, who that person is in your life, etc.

Step 2:  Share this blog post with any friends, family, colleagues or fellow baking enthusiasts in email, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

Step 3 (optional):  If you really want to win the 1 Free Birthday Cake, have the friends you shared this blog post with leave a comment endorsing you

We will pick the winner randomly at the end of the month of April.  The winner will choose the date they would like to receive their Free Birthday Cake.  The winner will choose what Birthday Cake they would like to receive from ChocolateBakery’s website. My favorite Birthday Cakes to bake are here if you need help choosing

Also! I am running the same contest on my Facebook page.  To enter, please like ChocolateBakery on Facebook and enter on our sweepstakes Facebook app.  Click here.

Below are my 5 favorite birthday cakes to bake.  You can also order these from ChocolateBakery.com for any special birthdays you may have coming up this month.

Chocolate Euphoria

The Ultimate essence of chocolate. Moist and rich chocolate cake baked with chocolate chips and cream cheese, then covered with a sensuous velvety smooth Belgian Chocolate Glaze. This delicious cake has been our best seller for over 25 years.

You can order the Chocolate Euphoria cake here.
Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet has long been a traditional American dessert, but it hasn’t always been so delicious. During World War II, it is reported that the rationing of cocoa lead bakers to get creative with their recipes, forcing them to use boiled beets to enhance the color of the cakes.

Luckily, beets are no longer the ingredient of choice, and cocoa has been brought back to give a rich color and a delicate chocolate flavor.

After experimenting with dozens of recipes, I’ve created what I believe to be the best red velvet cake available on the web. Our red velvet is a light, moist cake with a dash of cocoa to add the subtlest hint of chocolate. Frosted with a creamy, melt in your mouth cream cheese icing, this American favorite is the perfect way to send birthday greetings, holiday cheer, or just a simple and sure to be appreciated “thank you.”

You can order the Red Velvet Cake here.

German Chocolate Cake

Nothing beats a moist, rich, German Chocolate Cake. Although the name would lead one to believe that the cake is of German origin, you may be surprised to know that the cake actually gets its name from the creator, Englishman Samuel German. The name, which was originally German’s Chocolate cake, was reprinted with a typo, leaving out the ‘s, giving us the name we have today, German Chocolate Cake.

Although the history is a little convoluted, one thing is for sure, the flavor of the German Chocolate Cake is pure and simple. Moist layers of chocolate cake topped with shredded coconut, pecans and walnuts and finished with rich chocolate butter cream combine to create a cake that is great, no matter what the name.

You can order the German Chocolate Cake here.

Chocolate Down Pour

Three layers of rich chocolate cake filled with chocolate ganache and buttercream combined. To top off the cake, chocolate is poured over the top and sides to take your taste buds over the edge with a chocolate rush.

You can order the Chocolate Down Pour here.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

Everyone’s favorite Chocolate chip cookie made large and personally inscribed with “Happy Birthday” and the persons name.

You can order the Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie here.

I made these Chocolate bowls for a dinner party the other night and filled them with the Pots au Creme recipe.

These bowls are very easy to make.

1) Start with melted chocolate and blown up water balloons.

2) Dip the balloons in the chocolate.

3) Allow the chocolate to set.

4) Re dip them 2 to 3 times to get a good thick shell.

5) You can fill these cups with anything you like, from fresh fruit and cream to chocolate mousse, etc.

View some more of my recipes here.  Also, please feel free to leave any questions or comments below, and share with fellow baking enthusiasts!

I’ve read hundreds of cook books on many different fields of baking.  Below are my five favorite baking cook books that I would recommend and share with you.

Baking Illustrated

By Cook’s Illustrated Magazine Editors

Get this book Baking Illustrated
.

The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

By America’s Test Kitchen

Get The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook 3rd Edition: Cookware Rating Edition.

These two books are very helpful if you are curious what might happen to a recipe if you make seemingly minor changes.

The Essential Baker

By Carole Bloom

This baking cook book takes a different approach to organizing a baking cook book than most books.  The usual format for baking books is that recipes are  categorized by type of product, such as on muffins, cookies, pies,  and so on.  The Essential Baker takes a different approach, and places the recipes into flavor categories.  This format is great when you want a specific flavor profile.  It’s most helpful when your neighbor gives you that bag of produce from their garden…and you don’t know what to do with all those lemons!

Check out the great information on cocoa along with the helpful cocoa tasting table.

Get The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients
.

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice

By Peter Reinhart

There are several great bread books to choose from, and I especially like The Bread Baker’s Apprentice  by Peter Reinhart.  In the baking profession, we weigh our recipe ingredients rather than measure by cups.  This provides greater accuracy and consistent results.    I always appreciate books that list ingredients both by weight and by volume measure, and the recipes in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice follow this format.

In addition, you’ll find a ton of information, beautiful photos and fool-proof recipes.  Try the Cranberry-Walnut Celebration Bread…it’s fabulous for Thanksgiving!

Get The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread
.

What Einstein Told His Cook

By Robert L. Wolke

Wolke is a fun way to learn a bit of kitchen science.  I know that the term “kitchen science” sounds dry and boring to many people, but  that description certainly does not fit this book!  It’s a fun read with an occasional recipe, addressing both baking and cooking topics.

Get What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained
.

I have recently posted one of the first baking recipes on a new website called Foodie.

The recipe I shared with Foodie is called Couer a la Creme.  This is a creamy rich dessert just in time for Valentine’s Day. Made with Cream and Cream Cheese and garnished with fresh raspberries and a raspberry sauce, it is easy to make and delicious!

You can view the recipe by clicking here.

Foodie is a great, new online community that I recommend to all baking enthusiasts and Foodies.

A little more information about Foodie:

“Foodie taps into the knowledge and authority of top chefs, critics and industry influencers, along with hundreds of top food authors to surface the best, freshest food content for your personalized tastes.  Foodie is for the people who want an insider view on all things food, delivered through passionate voices by those who make creating new food experiences an everyday part of their life.” (Foodie’s About page)

Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed the Couer a la Creme recipe and please share with friends!

The video for the video recipe ‘Cream Puff Dough (Pate a Choux) seemed to have not made it into the final e-book, “Valentine’s Desserts”.  If you could not access or view the video tutorial on your e-book, I have uploaded it into this post.

For those who haven’t checked out my newest multimedia ebook, “Valentine’s Desserts”, here’s a great free peak at one of the video recipes.  You can order “Valentine’s Desserts” for you iPad, Kindle, or Nook for just 99 cents.

Pate a choux, also known as Cream Puff Pastry, is the classic French pastry dough used to make cream puffs and eclairs.  The ideal pastry has a thin, crispy crust surrounding a mostly hallow center.  It is easy to make, and with a little practice with a pastry bag, you can create fun edible containers suitable for holding pastry cream, whipped cream, chocolate mousse, and any number of both sweet and savory fillings.

Below is one recipe from the Valentine’s Desserts recipe ebook that follows the above video.

Cream Puff Swans

Pate a choux (cream puff dough)

Approximately  6 swans

½ C  water

2 oz. butter, cut into pieces

½ C all purpose or bread flour

2  to 3 eggs

1.  Pre heat oven to 425⁰.
2. Combine water and butter in a 1 qt. saucepan. Cook, over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter melts. Bring to a full boil.  Do not boil the water until the butter is melted.  Too much water loss during boiling will change the water-to-flour ratio of the dough.
3. Turn off the heat, add the flour all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or spatula.  Do not use a whisk…the dough will collect inside the whisk and be difficult to remove.  Do not stop stirring until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot, forms a ball, and follows the spoon around the pot.
4. Allow the dough to cool to 140⁰.  This will take about 5 minutes.  If using a stand mixer, transfer the dough to the mixer bowl and use the paddle attachment.  If mixing by hand, leave the dough in the pot (fewer dishes to wash!) and  use the wooden spoon.
5. Add one egg, mix thoroughly.  Use low speed if using the stand mixer.  Add the second egg and mix thoroughly.  The dough should look smooth and glossy, and be stiff enough to hold its shape when piped or dropped onto a baking sheet.  The goal is to mix as much egg into the dough as possible without the dough becoming too soft.
6. If the dough looks dull and very stiff, lightly beat the last egg and add a little at a time until the dough is smooth and glossy.
7. Using a pastry bag fitted with a number 5 star  bakery tip, pipe 6 large “shells”  approximately 3” long onto a parchment-lined baking pan for the swan bodies.  Leave two inches between pastries for expansion.
8. Using a pastry bag fitted with a number 1 plain bakery  tip, or a number 8 plain cake decorating tip, pipe 6 swan necks onto a separate baking pan lined with parchment paper. Pipe the dough into a backward “S”, making the top slightly bulbous.  The length of the “S”  will be about 2 ½” to 3” long.
9. Bake the swan necks  at 375⁰ for approximately 15 or 20 minutes.
10. Bake  the swan bodies at 425⁰ for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400⁰ for another 10 minutes.  Do not open the oven door, or the puffs could deflate.  Reduce the oven to 375⁰, bake 5 minutes and then check for doneness.

Tests for doneness:

• Pastry is evenly colored to a  medium golden brown.
• No beads of moisture remain on the outside of the pastry.
• When tapped firmly on the top, the pastry feels rigid, not springy.
• The pastry will sound hollow when tapped.

1.  Allow to cool at room temperature before filling.  The puffs can be frozen for a few weeks if well wrapped.  Thaw, and refresh in a 350⁰ oven for 5 minutes before filling.
2. To assemble the swans, use a serrated knife to slice off the top of the cream puff.  Cut this piece in half lengthwise. This will become the swan wings. The bottom portion of the puff will be the swan body.  Fill the bottom of the shell with sliced strawberries.  Pipe or spoon sweetened whipped cream on top of the strawberries.  Insert the swan neck, narrow end down, into the whipped cream, positioned at the front of the swan (the wider end of the puff).  Position the cut edges of the “wings” on the whipped cream.  Sift a light dusting of powdered sugar over the swans.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

1 C heavy cream

2 Tbl. sifted powdered sugar (more or less to suite your sweet tooth)

½ tsp. vanilla

Whip the cream and vanilla until the cream begins to thicken.  Add the sugar, whip to medium peaks.  If not used immediately, store in the fridge.