Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi, just asking has anybody mastered Paul’s chocolate cake yet, I have made it twice and they have both sunk very frustrating. Some people say that it might be the amount of sugar used but I have made the mud cake in the blog and it has more sugar and it didn’t sink. I have made cupcakes using this recipe and they turned out well. Could it be the raising agents maybe use baking powder instead of baking soda. I don’t really want to give up on this recipes because it is the nicest chocolate I’ve tasted. Any tips would be appreciated.

Hi nigel -mellon

Yes, quite a lot of our members have baked the moist chocolate cake successfully. I can’t say why it works for some and not for others. When the recipe was first put up lots of members had problems, most of the issues were around the egg size which are large, once realised more and more people were feeding back successful bakes. Baking temperature, amount of baking soda and how the tins are lined is also a consideration. I use baking soda as prescribed. I bake at 135c in a fan assisted oven, my cake sinks slightly but nothing enough to effect the depth too much. Other members have no problems at all with sinking and produce well risen flat topped cakes. Baking powder and baking soda are not always interchangeable in recipes but you can try it if you think it will work for you. I do hope you have a successful bake, as you say it is a lovely tasting cake.

Hi
Just made a 8 inch chocolate cake using Paul’s recipe and for the first time it hasn’t sunk. I reduced the sugar by 100g and folded the flour in into the chocolate mixture and it has turned out perfect. Maybe this might help someone else who is having problems with this recipe. Hopefully this wasn’t luck.

This certainly will help other members who have had difficulties, thank you for coming back with your result, glad it worked out for you. x