Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi there, I wasn’t sure whether to post this as a new question or under an existing one.
Anyway, I have tried this recipe out 4 times now, and in the 4th time RESULT!!!!
The first and second times I scaled the recipe down to an 8″ tin using the tin volume method as shown in another question in this forum. Both times the cakes domed & cracked and on the 2nd time it rose, formed a sort of skin on the top, when it cooled and I tried to cut it there was a space between the crust and cake which was full of air and when I tried to cut it the top of the cake crumbled away. Both cakes tasted lovely & were really moist though. The 3rd one was quite crumbly and dry but I used a 5″ tin again scaled down as we are putting on weight from all the cake. I bought a new 6″ tin today from sainsburys which was on offer for £3.33 it’s very heavy and rigid, anyway I scaled the recipe down as normal but I used sour cream as I had no buttermilk and I used half caster sugar and half soft brown sugar, I did reduce the sugar by 10% as previous cakes have been very crusty on top.. When I mixed the wet ingredients into the dry ones I only mixed it until just combined, I didn’t beat any air into it, I put it in the tin and tapped the tin on the work top to get rid of any air bubbles, I baked it in a fan oven at 130oC for the full 2 hours and didn’t open the oven door until 2 hours were up. I forgot to mention I lined the tin fully with parchment paper but didn’t ‘lag’ the outside. The result was perfect, a completely flat top, no doming or cracking, the taste is divine and the cake is lovely & moist, I left the cake to cool completely in the tin. I should also point out that I have tried Lindy Smiths recipe and although tasty I did find it dry and not like Paul’s . Any comments or help would be much appreciated as I am yet to try a square cake with this recipe, thanks

Hi dani68

It’s great to read your feed back. If you look under ‘Paul’s moist chocolate cake’ my feed back ( in popular questions, on the right hand side of this page) there are many comments on how other members have baked up this recipe with many hints and tips on the different things they did to get a successful result. There is also reference to the Lindy Smith recipe. Comments in this blog http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/baking-the-perfect-cake-why-things-go-wrong may also be helpful to you. As for a square cake, there is no reason why you should not get a good result, you’ve already done all the right thing. I used a square tin when I first baked this recipe with very little problem. I did raise the temperature by 5 degrees on my second bake, it’s a matter of experimenting with the oven. I have a very temperamental oven so I do tend to bake the same recipe several times, adjusting the heat on each occasion, until I find a happy medium. I have no problems with this recipe, even after reducing the sugar by approx 20%. The cake isn’t particularly sweet with full sugar, although one would assume it would be considering the sugar content. It’s a fabulous recipe, we enjoy it very often in my house as do my friends and family. Happy baking and decorating.