hi - this looks lovely.
can this cake be made in 2 loaf pans rather than a bundt pan
maybe i should ask a more general question first. For some reason, I've never been happy with any cake i've tried in a bundt pan. They always seem to me to be a little too dense, taste somehow underdone - even though they are not underdone! = and a little rubbery, somehow. I get the feeling they are coming out "right," - they look right, and are baked through, and people seem to like them, but to me the texture always seems off. Sometimes instructions say that the cake can be made in a bundt or two loaf pans (I take it that can be done as a general rule) and when i've taken the option in loaf pans, I'm happier with the texture. Does this make any sense. Am I doing something wrong here, or is the texture I'm describing/complaining about have something to do with how the cake bakes in the bundt vs loaf pans, i.e. is this is a bug (in my baking) or a feature of bundt baking? I do like the look of bundt pan cakes, and wish i could get them to succeed, but have this problem with texture/taste.
To the specific, despite how lovely your bundt cake loks - is there any reason not to make this cake in loaf pans - and how would i figure timing if i bake in loaf pans.

i'm curious - when you wrote above "Experience in baking with chocolate, especially in cake-baking using tube or Bundt pans with chocolate-based batters where an expanses top is formed"...is this (the softer cake) more of an issue in bundt cakes than other shaped cakes - layer, loaf etc? if yes, does this have something to do with surface area or ....
thanks - and i appreciate this resource so much - its terrific to be able to ask questions of expert bakers like yourselves and see your answers to others

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Hi Anushka,
Please read Rose's storage sections in The Cake Bible and Rose's Heavenly for cakes, which applies to cupcakes.

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I hv to make 100 cupcakes and a cake.....if i make some cupcakes in advance how do i store it. Pls. suggest me on this.

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Hi Rose,
I saw the video on valentine's chocolate cake. I loved it. Where can i get the perfect measurement recipe.

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I was wondering why when i make a yellow or white cake they taste like corn bread can some one help me

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Charlies, please note the following: Experience in baking with chocolate, especially in cake-baking using tube or Bundt pans with chocolate-based batters where an expanses top is formed, has offered the following results: That chocolate (either in the form of cocoa powder or in the form of melted unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate) adds a different dimension to a batter, based on the fact that it does have a (variable) acidic component usually neutralized by other ingredients, and its presence tenderizes the batter in a different way than other ingredients would do. Chocolate, then, gently softens the structure of the batter (by lessening--or shortening--the gluten strength present in flour). The resulting crust in a chocolate-based batter would then soften (or weaken slightly). This is only one of the reasons why the top and sides of a thoroughly-chocolate cake are softer and more downy-textured than, say, a vanilla-based butter cake. ( A buttery vanilla cake, made with buttermilk or sour cream, for example, would also have a softer top because the acid in the buttermilk or sour cream also diminishes the gluten strength of the flour as the cake bakes but still maintains an appropriate amount of gluten to keep the structure of the crumb intact.) I hope that this helps.

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Thank you for your kind reply, Lisa. BTW, my original comment was only targeted towards how the crust fooled me by cleaning off my skewer when testing for doneness. I believe the cake would have worked flawlessly, even with my changes, if I had understood more quickly what was happening. Even so, it was a good success.

I still am puzzled, though, about the crust. I've baked many other cakes that contained brown sugar and cake flour, but haven't seen this result. However, they probably were all chocolate.

You know, I think this sort of crust might be turned into an asset on the proper sort of dessert...something rather flat, like some type of brownie.

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Charles, many thanks for your detailed report! This is what I love most about devoted bakers--interest in all the major and minor factors relating to the ingredients and process. While it's true that your substitutions were not accurately reflected in your earlier assement of the cake recipe, I can tell you now that the liquification of the batter was due to swapping out (in equal parts, yet!) a measure of brown sugar. Interestingly enough, in my last cookbook, I do have chocolate chip cookie-like baked goods, and they do appeal to a wide audience, probably for the same reason that inspired you to do the substitution. (Some of my most requested recipes are chocolate chip-base--notably my rather extensive and unrelenting twists on the chocolate chip cookie.) Brown sugar is dense, reasonably heavy, and moist, and will, in fact, produce a different result. In addition to skewing the batter, it will make this cake's crumb more liquidy/syrupy, and create a thicker, firmer crust. The sugar quotient of the recipe for the cake was not formulated with brown sugar in mind. This is why you encountered the time issue, coupled with the odd batter and firmer crust. Your "crusting" issue is directly related to changing the sugar and playing with the flour. (For the record, the only bleached all-purpose flour I use is Gold Medal, and have done so for all of my baking years; it provides the most consistent results and other flours of the all-purpose variety have repeatedly created cakes that were tough--in my experience.) This is what happens when the level of protein changes along with the wetter, moister batter created by using a denser sugar (brown sugar); as well, protein counts can vary widely from brand to brand. (Even a perfect weight of flour can create a different batter structure if the cake is put together in a hot kitchen, in an arid environment, or on a rainy day.) Your results stymied me because they were entirely inconsistent with the way that the cake has baked, and I can assure you it has been baked--with dandy results--and enjoyed by many. With regard to weights--for a certain length of time I contributed to a professional baking publication where all ingredients (except, mostly, leavening agents were weighed), so I have long understood--as a detailed and dedicated baker--the precision of weighing ingredients (one of the scales that I own is a perfectly balanced, old-fashioned leveler purchased in England years and years ago, but I now rely on different range of digital scales).
As it happens, I contribute to national publications, and every one of them has different editorial parameters about how ingredients should be written, so I aim for consistency of style in my articles, carefully-structured recipes on my baking-only blog, scholarly pieces, and cookbooks. I deeply admire all exceptional bakers, and the manner in which they present their recipes, especially Rose. We all have our own style and different types of recipes to manage and to teach in our books.
Charles, you have provided me with interesting feedback on what seemed to me a very simple recipe--one that has been embraced by many. Your results intrigued me to such an extent that it sent me into researching how what happened to you happened to no one else. This is what charms me about the baking process, because sometimes a tweak or two can create a beautiful new recipe or a bit of a conundrum. This is all by way of saying your run with my recipe has been quite intriguing, and I so appreciate your scaling the recipe!

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Oh, and the KA AP flour I referenced has 11.7%, not 12.7%. The latter is the bread flour protein.

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and butter 226 g, of course.

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If you want to risk using my weights, here's what I got:

Flour: 405 g (I used 243 g AP, 162 g cake)
Baking powder: 11.5 g
Salt: 5.5 g
choc chips: 400 g
Sugar: 400 g (I used 200 white, 210 light brown)
Eggs: 200 g + 30g yoke
Vanilla: 10.5 g
Half & half: 248 g

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Thank you Lisa for your response. For what it's worth, the cake actually turned out well and everyone loved it, even though I assured them I had overbaked it. Putting it back into the oven with foil over the top did work, but cake was a bit overbrowned.

Let me emphasize again that the cake was very good, in spite of my hiccup.

I should have confessed a substitution: I replaced half the white sugar with light brown sugar. I wanted to the cake to be more of a chocolate chip cookie cake. Don't you hate when people comment on a recipe that they changed? (and I may have added a bit of cake flour to bring down the protein content of my King Arthur's rather high 12.7% AP.) I know, I know, you're slamming your head against the wall.

Other than that, I changed the volume measurements to weight, using Rose's suggestion of 135g/cup for the flour, based on your methodology of scooping. (Be careful, you'll hurt your head.)

I'm not sure what caused the crusting, but I think that the simple expedient of punching a larger hole in the surface would fix my scraping problem.

I've bought all the ingredients to make the cake again and plan to put it in my "go to" file.

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This certainly is not a circumstance I have heard about from any other baking enthusiast! The amount of butter is consistent with (ratio-wise) the amount of flour, eggs, and sugar that makes up the proportions in the recipe. It is a fairly classic butter cake formula. A few possible explanations for your results: inaccurate measuring of dry ingredients or sugar (causing too much liquidization of the batter, or the reverse, insufficent binding); a pan size of the wrong proportion; inaccurrate oven temperature (or too much variation in oven tempertaure during the baking process); and the top of a Bundt cake typically is rounded and plump, and this is a sign of proper mixing (and not really a "hump") and proper baking. This is a curious result, as neither legions of individuals who have baked this (including the stylist who baked this for photography) indicated the results mentioned! The batter is creamy, and bakes into a tender, beautifully-textured cake. Of course, I am happy to go over the ingredients and technique further to understand the experience.

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I had a bit of a problem making this cake. I checked it early, just in case it got done, and the skewer came out with chocolate (normal) and an oil film (not normal). Hmmm. I waited another 5 minutes and the top turned very dark brown, too brown, so I pulled it out and tested it again with a skewer. Chocolate with an oily film. Well, there was a lot of butter.

I waited 10 minutes and cut off the humped bottom, only to find raw batter underneath the hard shell. I'm guessing that the crisp shell cleaned my skewer as I extracted it. I've never had that happen before.

Anyway, I've covered the cake pan with foil and put it back in the oven. Not sure if this will work.

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Thank you! I am delighted that the cake has found a happy place at your table.

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What a lovely cake! I couldn't wait to make it so I ran out to buy missing ingredients and made it that very day. It is so moist and chocolatey and I know I will make it again and again. Thank your for posting the recipe.

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Thanks Lisa. I had a hunch that might be the case as I've seen other newspapers exclude the weight measurements in Rose's recipes too. Hopefully that will change some day as more and more home bakers are using kitchen scales these days to get more consistent results.

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I'm going to give this a try. Sounds yummy

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Dear Rose, I have been a disciple of yours since TCB was published in 1988. I have every cookbook that you have ever published including Romantic & Classic Cakes and I use all of them. You have spoiled me and raised my expectations of what a recipe should be. Rarely a week goes by that I don't introduce someone to your work. In my opinion, you are the best living author of cookbooks in the whole wide world. You are literally the 'be all and end all' of cookbook authors.

Maybe what needs to be done is to get the publishers of newspapers and magazines to change their style books.

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The Boston Globe style sheet requires contributors to use the word "flour" when all-purpose flour is used in a recipe. The Globe's recipes appear in cups and tablespoons.

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Thanks Rose. I had the same question as Wm. My other question was that the recipe doesn't specify what "type" of flour to use. We all know there's a big difference between unbleached AP flour and cake flour. Any insight on that?

Thanks,
Hanaâ

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If Lisa had given weights in addition to the volume measurements, I would give her cake a try. Other than you and a few others, no weights are being given for baking recipes. Those writers apparently don't know just how many people now have scales in their kitchens. I have two and each of my daughters have scales which the son-in-laws also use.

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