So far I have baked Woody’s lemon cake and the gingerbread cake from Rose’s books. The lemon cake I messed up a bit (it was ok), the ginger cake was amazing.

Now, I want to try making a chocolate cake (my third cake ever). I don’t know which one. I like chocolate but nothing that is really intense and bitter. I have not made buttercream from Roses’s books - which buttercream would make sense for a first try (I want to be able to pipe it to experiment with piping). I would like the cake to be moist. I will put the batter in 6” round pans because there is only two of us. I notice most cake recipes in the book use 2 9” pans. I would use 4 6” pans and freeze two of the cakes.

I have both of Roses’s books and would very much appreciate your recommendation for a first time ever chocolate cake. Thank you and cheers to all.

Hi, Rain!

First, I’d like to say that IMO, there is no easier chocolate frosting than the Milk Chocolate Buttercream in TCB—it is simply melted chocolate and butter.  It is amazing and reminds me of the easter chocolate I had as a kid. 

However, it is supersoft and luxurious, and probably isn’t the best choice for piping. 

The neoclassic buttercream is also REALLY easy, plus you can pipe it.  Moreover, in the videos section, Rose demos making it!!  I’ve made it twice, and it was perfect each time.  I used the Lyle’s, rather than corn syrup, version, which is only a flavor difference. 

Good luck!!

I think I will take the suggestion for the neoclassic buttercream - I will add the 6 oz of melted chocolate to it. I have scoured both books and am thinking of doing the Perfect All American Chocolate cake. The instruction call for 9 x 1 1/2 inch pans. I only have 9 x 2 inch pans. I want to use two 6 x 2 inch round pans - would I take the recipe and times it by .66 to get the batter for one 9 x 2” pan and than split that between two 6 x 2” pans. So sorry if this is confusing.

Hi, I’m sure you can’t go wrong with any of the chocolate cake recipes, but I’m an unabashed fan of the Chocolate Domingo from TCB! It is a super simple batter to put together, and it’s already sized for one 9x2 cake pan, so you won’t even need to do any major (or minor!) math.  And, it doesn’t even need frosting, unless of course you just want to, for fun. I’ve served it with the dusting of confectioners sugar and a rose as suggested, and it looked gorgeous. I also think it is a bit moister than the two other chocolate cakes I’ve made (the double chocolate valentine and the chocolate velvet fudge from RHC. Though come to think of it..that velvet fudge was really delicious, it just got a little dry on day 2/3, whereas the Domingo has wonderful keeping properties and seems as good to me on days 2 and 3 as when freshly baked…

For the recipe factors, two 6x2 rounds have a capacity of 7.5 cups (p.455, Cake Bible).  Two 9x1.5 rounds have a capacity of 13 cups.  So to convert the AA chocolate butter cake, 7.5/13= or .  So multiply everything in the recipe by 0.58x.

Similarly, for the Domingo, one 9x2 pan has a capacity of 8.667 cups (p. 455, Cake Bible), so 7.5/8.667= 0.87.

Good luck, hope you post your result!

No offense to Rose’s cakes which are awesome but when it comes to chocolate I keep going back to an old favourite that I cut out of a magazine years ago. I have used it for all kinds of special occasion cakes. My family insists I don’t “spoil” it with icing of any kind.

Hershey’s Deep Dark Chocolate Cake - Mixes in 5 Minutes

1 ¾ cups unsifted all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
¾ cup Hershey’s cocoa (or other brand)
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup boiling water

(1) Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. 
(2) Add remaining ingredients except boiling water; beat at medium speed 2 minutes.
(3) Remove from mixer; stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
(4) Pour into two greased and floured 9” or three 8” layer pans or one 13x9” pan. (Or a 2”x10” round pan with a – not a springform – it’ll leak out)
(5) Bake at 350o for 30-35 minutes for layers, 35-40 minutes for 13x9” pan, or until cake tester (inserted in center) comes out clean. (50-60 minutes for round pan)
(6) Cool 10 minutes on rack.
(7) Remove from pans; cool completely.
(8) Top with your favorite frosting.

I do love really high tech cakes too - esp Rose’s wonderful masterpieces - but there are times and occasions that call for a really fast easy simple but good cake. And the Hershey’s version is one of those. I have one I have devised myself that’s almost identical (uses oil & buttermilk) mixed in one bowl. It has garnered raves everytime I do it - and has become my standard go-to cake for decorating (firm enough to do big sculptural cakes, yet still moist and fine textured). I have successfully made it in huge amounts (up to 10x recipes) for multiple giant sheet cakes which I do regularly for my church. It is so simple a child could make it - economical, and good! Highly recommended!