Comments on: Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake

By: Sheila

Sheila — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 06:12:58 +0000

I made a chocolate cake last night, sorry it was from a box, and I have one can of frosting. I’m a whipped kind of girl adn the Fluffy white is my fav. Some frineds were asking about it as they had no clue. I came across your picture and post. Now I’m going to have to try my hand at your cake! We live in China and though I can get box mixes here they are very expensive. Thanks for sharing!

By: Serena

Serena — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 08:43:00 +0000

Thank you suzanne I will do this my daughter loves chocolate so she wants to try this. Take care

By: Suzanne McMinn

Suzanne McMinn — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:01:19 +0000

Serena, you could put all the dry ingredients together as a mix.

By: Serena

Serena — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:31:56 +0000

It sound delicious but I have a question. Can you fix it like a prepackeged deal like the yellow cake mix you came up with? If so I would appreciate on how to do that. Take care and I love your recipes

By: Suzanne McMinn

Suzanne McMinn — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 11:02:06 +0000

dee, it’s all the beating!! It takes a while.

By: dee leBleu

dee leBleu — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 05:15:31 +0000

I love this icing – my mother always made it. Yummy – however, I have problems getting the icing to form peaks? HOW TO DO IT?
Thanks. Dee

By: Cinderbama

Cinderbama — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 04:41:10 +0000

Baked the cake tonight for Little Boy, Middle Son,and Middle Son’s girlfriend. I purposely put it in a dark blue glass baking pan to see if it got too dry. Actually it was really moist. In fact, it was SO moist that it took 50 minutes at 350 degrees! But Suzanne is right. This cake is awesome with just powdered sugar. I’m eating my second piece right now! Just goes to show that nothing is predictable.

By: cinderbama

cinderbama — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 17:02:38 +0000

Canner Joann,

Here are some reasons you may have had trouble with the cake turning out too dry. Hope this helps!

• Too much flour. Be sure to measure properly and level the top of the cup with a knife.
• Too much shortening.
• Too much sugar.
• Beating the eggs too long. Egg whites are a drying agent.
• Improperly mixing – not enough or over-mixing. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom while you’re mixing. Don’t beat it for too long either.
• Over-filling the cake pans. They need to be ½ – ¾ full.
• Oven too hot.
• Leaving the cake in the oven too long. Check it before the time is up to adjust baking time if needed. When the timer dings don’t ignore it!

I am world’s worst about letting my timer ding too long. I would think, though, that you need to adjust the cooking time if you are using a glass pan, especially if it is a dark pan. Your cake probably just cooked a couple minutes too long.

By: Suzanne McMinn

Suzanne McMinn — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 23:38:27 +0000

I’ve used this recipe in a large pan for sheet cake and had no trouble with it being moist. I don’t have a glass cake pan, however, so that might be the problem, I just don’t know.

By: Canner Joann

Canner Joann — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 23:23:04 +0000

I made this last week, and while the frosting turned out great for me (heaven in a bowl is right!), the cake was dry. I used a glass 10×14 pan, and thought I took it out at the right time (toothpick test). I salvaged it and turned it into a trifle using the cake, homemade chocolate syrup and the frosting, and it was good. Would my glass pan have anything to do with it? Should I have lowered the temp or the baking time?