One-Bowl Chocolate Cake Recipe - Crunchy Creamy Sweet (2024)

FAQs

What makes a cake crunchy? ›

Candied walnuts, almonds, or cashews would all work well, as would honey-roasted peanuts. As an added perk, candied nuts would maintain more crunch in your cake thanks to that sugary coating on the outside, which helps protect the nut from the cake's moisture.

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. "Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods," she adds.

Leavening agents, such as baking powder and baking soda, play a crucial role in making cakes rise and achieve a fluffy texture. These agents produce carbon dioxide gas when combined with liquid and heat, creating air pockets that lighten the batter.

Can't milk or buttermilk do the same? Here's one thing to consider: thickness. Sour cream adds moisture without thinning your batter the same way that a liquid would. That fact that sour cream delivers moisture without further thinning out a batter results in a cake with a very tender, very fine crumb.

Sugar adds crunch

This allows dissolved sugars to re-crystallise and creates the crunchy, sweet rust that you've probably enjoyed on pastries such as pound cakes, muffins, cookies, and brownies.

Candied walnuts, almonds, or cashews would all work well, as would honey-roasted peanuts. As an added perk, candied nuts would maintain more crunch in your cake thanks to that sugary coating on the outside, which helps protect the nut from the cake's moisture.

Because eggs help build the cake's structure (don't use them and you're looking at a gooey mess), adding an extra egg yolk makes the cake batter denser. Translation: you'll have a moister confection. Conversely, she suggests an extra egg white for a fluffier cake.

All this means that adding mayonnaise to the cake batter boosts the moisture of the final product—and leaves none of its characteristic taste. Testing showed that using oil or butter instead of mayo made for a drier cake, but keeping the eggs in addition to the mayonnaise improved richness and springiness.

Step 1: Look at the directions on the cake mix. Step 2: Add one more egg (or add 2 if you want it to be very rich). Step 3: Use melted butter instead of oil and double the amount. Step 4: Instead of water, use whole milk.

Oh yes, you sure can. This recipe has a combination of butter and oil to give off that nice buttery taste while keeping it soft and moist at the same time. Cake using pure butter tends to be more dense and dry compared to adding oil into the batter.

Why are bakery cakes so fluffy? ›

Most cakes begin with creaming butter and sugar together. Butter is capable of holding air and the creaming process is when butter traps that air. While baking, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy cake.

Baking soda makes things 'spread' and baking powder makes things 'puff'. This is handy to know when baking things like these cookies.

Baking tip #3: don't share this trick with anyone! The secret ingredient to making a moist cake is sour cream! That's right.

Sour cream helps to tenderize cakes.

The lactic acid in sour cream breaks down the proteins in the flour, making for a softer, more tender cake. This is especially important for chocolate cakes, which are often dry and tough. So, if you find your chocolate cake too dry, try adding some sour cream to the recipe!

Mayonnaise, the least likely of the bunch, actually gives the closest result to having used oil, and it retains the flavors of your cake or whatever baked good you are creating very well! Yogurt and sour cream also work in a pinch, but do change the flavor profile a tad.

The temperature of your oven plays a huge role in the texture of your cookies! A lower oven temperature will give your cookies more time to spread before they start to rise, resulting in a crispier cookie. I recommend baking your cookies for a bit longer at a lower temperature to achieve the texture you're looking for.

Simple: a long, slow cool helps keep things crisp.

Cake Has Coarse Texture

Possible reasons your cake is too course include: Excess baking soda. Too little liquid. Butter and sugar not thoroughly blended.

Mixing Ingredients

If your cake is uneven, you may have mixed the ingredients improperly or spread it unevenly. If your cake texture is coarse, you may not have combined the fat and sugar well enough.