Here are a couple of cakes I made 3 weeks ago: Black Chocolate Party Cake and White Velvet Butter Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache.
The Black Chocolate Party cake I was really curious about. Mainly because it used A LOT of cocoa powder. It is realy a lot, or more like a boatload. Not only it used a lot of cocoa powder in the batter, there's cocoa syrup that used - well you guessed it - more cocoa powder.
Since I made these cakes weeks ago, and just now blogging about it, I totally forgot how the cake was made. If there is ever a recipe memory contest, I would definitely lose LOL. I do, however, remember that both of these cakes were really easy.
As I don't remember how these cakes were made, we are going to skip ahead to tasting impressions. But before that, one note about the white velvet butter cake. I made 2/3 of the recipe and baked it in an 6 inch pan and a 4 inch pan. The cake didn't turn out as smooth as I wanted, so as you can see the ganache is not smooth as well. I was pretty bummed about that, and now looking back I realized I should have refrigerated the cake so it would firm up a bit and become easier to apply the ganache. Speaking of the ganache, I did not have milk chocolate at home, so I melted 3 oz of Green & Black's Dark Chocolate (70%) and 3 oz of Green & Black's White Chocolate (30%). I think the result is pretty close to milk chocolate.
Tasting impressions:
I do not like the Black Chocolate Party Cake. It smelled really good, very chocolate-y smell, but the texture was too dense and not very exciting. I am sad to say that this I think is the worst cake from RHC in my opinion (sorry, Rose!). I could barely finish a piece :(.
The White Velvet Butter cake is really good. The taste is pretty simple, like any white cake (but better). The ganache is a bit on a sweet side - so I was glad I only used a thin coating (I have 1/3 of it left in the freezer). This one, I am happy to report, will get made again :).
It's always good to hear honest commentary, whether good or bad. I've tried the white velvet cake and like it better than a lot of scratch white cakes. Sorry about the ganace... it still looks delish!
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the "taste" outcome, both pictures make you run to the kitchen to bake them!
ReplyDeleteHmmm.. . . I'm intrigued with the Black Chocolate Party Cake. I LOVE chocolate and I usually like dense so I wonder if I would like it. Both cakes look delicious.
ReplyDeleteב''ה
ReplyDeleteGood to get perspective on these cakes. Maybe I'll pass on the chocolate party cake next time. They both look great though!
well, your photos are beautiful, even if the black party cake wasn't to your liking. i'm still looking forward to both cakes! i hope the white velvet cake is as good as the one in TCB (hopefully better).
ReplyDeleteNice photos! It's nice to hear your opinion on the Chocolate Party Cake. That one probably will probably go to the bottom of my list for Free Choice weeks. I really like the White Velvet Butter Cake. It has become my go-to scratch white cake. I've never actually had it with the milk chocolate ganache though.
ReplyDeleteBoth cakes look spectacular!
ReplyDeleteScratch white cakes are always perilous. When executed perfectly they put mixes to shame, and are so light and airy without that trace of oily-ness. But it's all too easy to under or overbake them. I am really excited to try the white velvet butter cake for my next layer cake experiment.
ReplyDeleteBoth cakes look very pretty. Sorry you didn't like the Black Cake. I made it last year but messed up while making 1/2 or a 1/3 of the recipe and doing the math on the spot. I used the entire amount of baking soda and the cake had a weird/soapy taste. But at work nobody could tell... hmmmm... weird.
ReplyDeleteThe white cake looks moist. I haven't made the one from RHC yet but I haven't had much luck with the white cake in TCB. Made it a few times and then gave up. It came out too dry every single time. Maybe I should try the recipe in RHC (it wasn't dry, was it?)