Perfectly Moist Chocolate Cake FAQ

You, my dear Bake Happy friends, are important to me. Very, very, very important. As in I think of you all the time. Oops that sounds totally stalkerish. I'm not getting my point across, am I?

What I mean is you're important to me (I guess I don't have to elaborate on that one, do I?)

I just want you all to know that. 

That's why whatever you ask, I answer. 

Okay then, I try to answer to the best of my ability. And I noticed that a lot of you my dearest friends have questions about this cake - 

My Ma's Ultimate Chocolate Cake Recipe. Best Chocolate Cake Recipe ever. Totally Rad Chocolate Cake Recipe. And as I said, because you are important to me, I compiled the Top Ten most asked questions in one single post. Ready? So am I nice or am I nice? 

Here it goes -

1. Can your Ma's chocolate cake recipe be able to hold the weight of rolled fondant?

You got that right! This is the chocolate cake recipe I used inside this cake 

And on this cake too -

Oh wait, on this one also -

But as you can see, I only recommend it for single tiered cakes. Haven't tried it with  two or three tiered cakes. If you have, let us know okay?

2. Wait, did I read the ingredients correctly, no eggs and butter?

Yup, that is correct. The mayonnaise replaced the need for eggs and butter.

3. What brand of mayo do you use?

Any brand will do, but I use this one

4. Shall I use hot, cold or tap water?

'Cause you're hot then you're cold, You're yes then you're no... Uh... before I start dancing to Katy Perry's hits, here's my answer - tap water will do just fine.

5. What brand of cocoa powder do you use?

Valrhona, Bernsdorp, Hershey's and Ricoa are the ones that I have tried this recipe with. They all work great. But the best tasting version of this chocolate cake was when I used Callebaut. It was just perfect. Too bad they no longer carry this brand in cocoa powder form in the Philippines. 

6. How many cupcakes can one batch of your Ma's recipe make?

When I make cupcakes, I always use the 3oz cups. These 3oz cups can hold 1/4 cup of chocolate batter each. One batch can make 20 cupcakes.

7. I'm making an 8-inch round cake, how many batches of your Ma's recipe will I make?

 If you want to make a round cake 4 inches high, follow the below guide

7-inch cake: 1 batch

8-inch cake: 2 batches

9-inch cake: 3 batches

10-inch cake: 4 batches 

Easy peasy yeah?

8. Can you share us the Bakers Percentage of the quantities of the ingredients?

Oh... Oh my... a math question. whenever I hear a math question it's just like I drank a ginormous tub of Slurpee in under a minute... My mind panics and just freezes blank. But don't worry I tried converting the recipe to what I call my amateurish take on the Bakers Percentage. I tested this and works great - 

220 grams flour

300 grams sugar

50 grams cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

360 ml cup water

240 ml mayonnaise

1 tsp vanilla extract

Though, if anyone of you knows how to properly convert the recipe, do let us know, 'kay?

  

9. How come the cake falls apart when cut horizontally into half? 

That's because we barely mixed the flour into the batter. This means that the gluten (the one responsible for toughening up cakes) has barely been activated. Mix some more to make it more sturdy.

10. Thank you for sharing your Ma's recipe. Can I give your hug?.

Abso -bloomin'- lutely! 

In my mind, I am hugging you all right now :)

There you have it folks! If I still haven't been answered your questions, do let me know, and I'll try to answer the best that I could. Just limit math questions ok?

Cupcake Baking 101: The Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe!

Hey, guys! What are your weekend plans? Are you ready to start the weekend? Yeah!! Me, too!

It’s time for Bake Happy's cupcake tutorials! For those who have missed the previous posts, I have posted the links below just for you.

Okay, I cannot stop raving about my Ma’s Chocolate Cake recipe. You won’t stop too, once you’ve got to taste it! Pinky swear. I decided to share it to the world because I must admit it would be a shame to tuck it somewhere left to be forgotten. A recipe such as this needs to be shared. 

For chocolate cupcakes, I use this recipe. And since I showed you how it’s done step by step here, I thought of sharing the raves Bake Happy has gotten for this recipe! Thanks soo much guys! You make my heart go pitter patter everytime I read your raves!

From Dianne (Facebook):

Tried your moist chocolate cake recipe today. I sooooo love it...super moist.=)  I made cupcakes from your moist chocolate cake recipe by the way.=) Good thing its delish even without frosting...my husband loves it too. Thank you very much for sharing your recipes and answering my queries.

Prepare cupcake pan, line with cupcake liners.

Naina (Facebook)

Aikko !!! The test run was a huuuuuuggggggggeee success !!! Thank you thank you thank you so much! I will post pics of the final cupcakes.... You should be a proud teacher right now coz I feel like a proud student .. thank you so so so so much! I'm drunk on cupcakes ..... hiiiiiiiccckkkk

Fill liners with batter, two thirds full.

Bernadette (Twitter)

@i_am_bakehappy  i'm trying out your Moist Chocolate Cake! Made the frosting today, cake tom!

@i_am_bakehappy your chocolate recipe is perfect! I will never buy a chocolate cake again! I will just bake it! :) thanks so much! :)

Meg of Clutzy Cooking 

Okay, soooooooo, this looks.... I mean.... wow. WOOOOOOOOW. That looks amazing! i am from Chicago and there is the infamous Portillos Chocolate Cake which is also made with mayonnaise annnnd, I now NEED to make this to see/compare. Thank you so so much for sharing! Love this, as per usual. Hope you're well!!

Enjoy the cupcakes!

Marissa of Frosting on My Cake

Hi Aikko! Last Sunday's party was a success. Everyone was raving about the cupcakes I made. Thanks so much for the chocolate cake recipe, it is indeed the best!

Happy Cupcaking!

Aikko

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Cupcake Baking Tutorials

Cupcake Baking 101: Cupcake Pans

Cupcake Baking 101: Cupcake Liners
Cupcake Baking 101: How to Evenly Distribute the Batter into Cupcake Cups
Cupcake Baking 101: The Cupcake Scoop Test
Cupcake Baking 101: 10 Cupcake Baking Essentials
Cupcake Baking 101: Vanilla Cupcakes with a Secret Ingredient

A Birthday Party I Would Have Loved to Attend

I met Marissa of Frosting on My Cake through Daphne. We haven’t actually met “met” as in personally but through the ever powerful force that is the “Internet”. I love having new blogging friends! Hi Marissa!


Anyway, a few weeks ago, she asked me if I could share my chocolate cupcake recipe so she could make cupcakes for her son’s seventh birthday. What’s my answer? Yes, of course! I love it when I receive emails requesting for recipes or information. I get excited and I tend to over write all the information in one mail. Ask Marissa, that was one long first e-mail. 


I shared my no-fail super moist chocolate cake, she bake-tested first and it was a success! I swear by this recipe – always a sure fire hit. Remember Naina? She got drunk eating these cupcakes. 


My chocolate cake recipe is one of the recipes she used for her son’s party. I’m telling you she is one super mom. She made a cupcake tower, a candy bar and loads and loads of cupcakes. What would I give to have been invited! Here are the pictures she sent me to share to you. A job well done, Marissa! I’m sure Ross will forever remember his seventh birthday party.

One look and I know these are The chocolate cupcakes to beat!

The Candy Bar!!! I would love to stand beside this the whole time and secretly munch on the candies... yup, not a marshmallow test passer when I was a kid.

More chocolate cupcakes!!!

The cupcake tower! Wow, a Thomas theme. I love it!

 Happy Cupcaking!
Aikko


Ps: and oh, Marissa, we should shop for cake plates together. Your Cake Plate post almost got me to head to Rustan’s in my ugliest (but most comfy) pajamas at 3 in the morning. 

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How to Bake a Perfectly Moist Chocolate Cake

Related post: Frequently Asked Questions for the Chocolate Cake, posted here.

title #2: The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe

title #3: Just Like How Ma Used to Make: The Chocolate Cake

title #4: The Great Chocolate Cake

Decisions, decisions.

I have been deep in thought. I don't know what title pick for this post. I have several choices and all them fit to a "T" because this cake... it's definitely the bestest.

This is my Ma's recipe. She got it from Auntie Fely, who is the best baker on earth. The recipe is written in an old Merit notebook that I will treasure forever. It has the best cake recipes. I'm telling  you, the book is magic. Everything from this notebook turns out wonderful. I wonder where she got it from? The Cake Fairy maybe.

I cannot begin to tell you how heavenly this cake is. For me, it doesn't even need a frosting. It is chocolatey enough on its own. This is the recipe I used here, here, here and oh.. here as well.

The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (all purpose flour is okay, but you can find cake flour, it would be better)

1 ½ cup sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 ½ cup water

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure
1. In a bowl, mix mayonnaise and sugar until smooth

2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder. It's up to you if you'd like to sift or dry whisk. Just make sure all four ingredients are well mixed. Both works for me.

3. Add a third of the flour mixture to the mayonnaise mixture

4. Add 1/2 of the water required. Now don't be discouraged if it looks sloppy once the water is added. It'll come together, pinky swear.

5. Repeat #3 and #4 until the flour mixture and water has been added to the mayonnaise mixture. Add the vanilla extract last.

6. Pour into a well greased pan and bake at 350F for 40-50 mins for cakes and 12-15 minutes for cupcakes. Make sure to tap the pans used to let the air out before baking, okay?

I know I said this cake doesn't need frosting. But what's a cake without frosting? (read: someone had a fork ready and took a big chunk of the cake so I had to do a cover up)

So, in case someone can't wait to take a bite out of your chocolate cake. Here's the perfect cover-up.

Whipped Chocolate Ganache

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract (if you're feeling fancy, you can add Kahlua, too)

1. Chop chocolate and transfer into a heat proof bowl.

2. Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream through strainer, over the chocolate.

3. Let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.

4. Add butter stir until combined.

5. Cool ganache in the refrigerator overnight. Then beat/whip until fluffy. 

Happy Cupcaking, 

Aikko