Hi,

A wonderful cake that I make is the Barefoot Contessa Orange Chocolate Chunk cake:

    http://bit.ly/9wK270

Although it’s a delicious cake, I find that the chocolate chunks (even if coated in flour as the recipe directs) usually sink to the top third of the cake, often clumping together near the very top. They just don’t want to evenly disperse within the batter, even though that’s the way they go in while mixing. I use Nestle semisweet chocolate chunks.

Does anyone have suggestions regarding how to improve this aspect of the cake? Do I mix in only half the chunks with the batter, pour it into the mold and then sprinkle the rest on top to sink in later?

Thanks,
Tim

Nice looking cake.
It seems to me there are only two possibilities. Your chunks are too heavy or your batter is too light to float your chunks. The easiest thing to try is to lighten your chunks. Try cutting them in half next time.

Did you use the extra-large eggs the recipe called for?

No, just large eggs. Would the difference between extra large eggs and large eggs cause the chunks to sink so badly? The cake rose as when I use extea large eggs.

Tim - 04 March 2013 02:23 PM

No, just large eggs. Would the difference between extra large eggs and large eggs cause the chunks to sink so badly? The cake rose as when I use extea large eggs.

Eggs aren’t really there to contribute to the rise; they provide added structure, flavor, and moisture. You essentially used one fewer egg than the recipe called for and I would suspect that your batter wasn’t as thick as might have been. This might have contributed to the chunks sinking.