Full question
The intense chocolatey flavour of the Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake is proving a huge hit, however my family prefer a slightly more moist cake. Would it affect the chemistry of the recipe if I added 50ml more sour cream or greek yoghurt and/or 1 to 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil, to increase the moisture content of the finished cake? I could wing it, I know, but thought I'd check first (and avoid wasting ingredients).
Our answer
Nigella's Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake (from FEAST) has a chocolate sponge covered with a fudgy sour cream ganache icing. The sponge itself should be fairly moist and for baking it can be tricky to make too many changes. Additional sour cream doesn't always help and can dull the chocolate flavour. Switching a little of the butter for vegetable oil can help a bit but can also make the cake a little greasy.
We think it would be better to try another sponge recipe and would suggest the sponge from Nigella's Devil's Food Cake. This is a very moist but still deeply chocolatey sponge, which may suit your family's preferences. It is quite a liquid cake batter, so we would recommend using cake pans that have fixed, rather than loose, bases. You can ice these sponges with the Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake icing as the cakes are both 20cm/8-inch two layer cakes, or you can try the very fudgy frosting for the Devil's Food Cake.
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