One-Bowl Chocolate Cake Recipe - Crunchy Creamy Sweet (2024)

FAQs

What will stay crunchy in a cake? ›

Candied walnuts, almonds, or cashews would all work well, as would honey-roasted peanuts. As an added perk, candied nuts would maintain more crunch in your cake thanks to that sugary coating on the outside, which helps protect the nut from the cake's moisture.

Most cakes will call for a leavening agent like baking powder or baking soda. These create the bubbles you need for the cake to rise.

The idea behind this test is you can insert a toothpick or paring knife into the center of the cake to see if the crumb has set. If the tester comes out clean, it's done. If it comes out gummy or with crumbs clinging to it, the cake needs more time in the oven.

Crushed cookies, nuts, and seeds are all great options. For example, you could sprinkle some crushed graham crackers on top of a lemon tart for a little bit of texture and a complementary flavor. Or, you could add some chopped pecans to a caramel tart for a nutty crunch.

When to use which one. Baking soda is used in recipes that also include an acidic ingredient, such as cream of tartar, buttermilk, or citrus juice. Conversely, baking powder is typically used when the recipe doesn't feature an acidic ingredient, as the powder already includes the acid needed to produce carbon dioxide.

Not to mention oil is cheaper and easier to work with. Butter will always provide superior flavor and that melt-in-your-mouth texture. In many recipes, combining the two gives the best of both worlds. That's what I landed on for my Red Velvet Cake recipe!

Baking soda reacts to the acid in a recipe, while baking powder reacts to liquid and heat. Baking soda changes the texture of baked goods by causing a batter or dough to spread, while baking powder produces light, fluffy texture.

Martina says, “Late in the mixing stage, eggs will incorporate better if you lightly beat them before adding to the batter. The finished cake may be slightly shorter than expected, but its flavor and tenderness shouldn't be affected.” For egg-leavened cakes, the eggs are crucial.

Leavening Agents

Breads, cakes, cookies, and nearly all baked goods require a leavening agent. These are the key ingredients that make a cake rise. There are two types of leavening agents, chemical (baking soda and baking powder) and biological (yeast).

Why do bakers soak cakes? ›

Let me introduce you to the cake soak.

When you do this, the cake integrates moisture and flavor, and the sweetened liquid helps preserve the cake's freshness, so a slice can taste just as delicious a couple days after baking.

Baking at a lower temperature yields a lighter crust. And not only is the crust lighter, it's more tender, as well. Notice the thicker, darker crust from the cake baked at 350°F (above left), compared to the crust from the cake baked at 325°F.

The majority of cakes are baked in a regular oven at 180c (350F/Gas Mk 4), on the centre shelf of the oven.

Recipes will usually give instructions for cooling but as a general rule, most sponge cakes are best left for a few minutes and then turned onto a cooling rack to avoid soggy edges. Rich fruit cakes are better cooled in the tin.

Create resistance: Coat the chips with flour or cocoa

You can counteract this by coating the chips with some flour or cocoa before mixing them into the batter. Place the chips in a bowl or jar, add a bit of flour or cocoa — I use 1/2 teaspoon for up to 2 cups (340g) of chips — and stir or shake to coat.

Granola: Swap in a bit of granola for the nuts that are called for in your recipe. A one-for-one replacement should work fine. Crisp Rice Cereal: This will give you all of the texture and crunch that you'd get from nuts. Start with half as much as the recipe calls for.

Adjusting the cooking time and temperature

If your cake has a soggy middle, the first thing to try is bringing the temperature down a little and baking for slightly longer. I'd suggest reducing the temperature by 20 degrees and increasing the baking time for 7 minutes.

"Why does my cake taste like a brick?" If your cake is hard, the problem probably lies in the beating. The butter must be beaten well in the early stages to give the mixture enough air for a light and fluffy texture.