Sista

Hello,

I tried making a chocolate cake but the chocolatey taste is too cocoaey. How can I make it like costs choclate fudge cakes? The texture etc.

Thanks.

WildChild

Hard to say without knowing what recipe you used or what you did. Was this from scratch or a box? I do a lot of baking from scratch but have only used a box mix once - it was a disaster. Cakes aren't difficult but there are things you have to know; overbeating or under beating can cause problems as can not adequately creaming the sugar and butter (if you aren't using applesauce instead)
More info please.

__________________
We can only learn to love by loving.

Iris Mudoch, British writer

Sista

Oh I picked up a cake book and the ingredients were normal, flour, margarine, sugar, cocoa and golden syrup, as well as eggs.

WildChild

Part of it may just be your recipe. Here's one I like that is really easy. I got this years ago from the Hershey's Homemade Cook book, they have several good, simple cake recipes

3/4 cup softened butter or margarine (I use applesauce, little heavier cake but healthier)
1-2/3 cup sugar (less 3 Tbl spoons- I think it's better with just a little less sugar)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Cups unbleached flour
2/3 cup Hershey Cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda (at higher altitudes reduce this)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder (always use the kind without aluminum, Rumford is one)
1 1/3 cups water (if use applesauce reduce this to 1-1/4)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two round cake pans or one large rectangular pan. (I always bake with glass pans, you can reduce oven temp by 25 degrees if you do, at high altitude you need to increase oven temp by 25 degrees, so it balances out perfectly)
Sift your cocoa, flour, soda, salt and baking powder at least 3 times.
In a large mixer bowl combine the butter (or applesauce) sugar, eggs and vanilla; beat on high speed for 3 mins. Add your dry ingredients alternating with the water ( always divide into at least 4 additions of flour mix, alternating with fairly equal amounts of liquid) Use a lower mixer speed for this and scrape the bowl sides regularly. Blend only until well combined - over mixing can keep cakes from rising or make them crumbly.
If you use the applesauce, the batter will seem very wet and thin- it's OK, it'll bake up really nicely.
Pour into the prepared pans. Bake 30-35 mins, until a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. DOn't mess with it in the oven until at least 30 mins of baking time. everytime you open the oven you lower the temp. No running, jumping, banging, loud noises while cake is baking - that can indeed cause it to fall - by breaking the air bubbles that the levening is generating.
Cool the cake in the pan for 10 mins and then in baked in round pans, turn out on to wire racks to finish cooling. I leave the rectangular in the pan usually.

__________________
We can only learn to love by loving.

Iris Mudoch, British writer