Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hello, I need advice on baking chocolate cakes.  I find that the outside top always crusts over when baking and is hard and dry. I have used two different recipes, one calls for full cream milk, or buttermilk to be added with the plain flour and cocoa, the other is to first melt chocolate with milk and sugar and add it to the mixture when all the butter, sugar, eggs and flour have been combined. Each time I seem to end up with a crumbly cake with a hard top crust which needs to be removed to level off.   I would also like some advice on flour – why do most chocolate cake recipes say to use plain flour with baking powder, why not self raising flour? and does it make a difference?  Thank you

HI Anniep53   click on online courses then free courses you will see pauls moist chocolate cake recipe

it’s fab

Hi Lesleya, many thanks for this reply.  I will try Paul’s cake recipe, it sounds wonderful. Annie

Hi Lesleya, have you cooked this with success?  If so please share your secret with us as many, many of us are having disasters! 

Anniep53 type ‘chocolate cake’ in the search box for questions and read all posts about chocolate cake before baking.  If you are successful please post results again on here as we would love to know how to make the recipe work.  Extremely good luck!

Jx

I tried pauls chocolate cake today, i forgot to add the buttermilk but has not affected the overall outcome.

The cake did go hardish on the top but it was tray bake not a 3in tin.

overall though beautiful tasting, good moist cake to work with.

you might find it better to put a greaseproof  lid on the tin, i just tie it on with string.

hope you work it out

crumbs