Chocolate coconut cake recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a secret ingredient for cakes? ›

Mayonnaise: The Hidden Gem in Cake Recipes

Made up of eggs and oil, mayonnaise acts as an emulsifier, adding creaminess and moisture to your cake. This unexpected addition can take your cake recipes to a whole new level. To incorporate mayonnaise into your cake batter, simply add a couple of tablespoons to the mix.

Room Temperature Butter / Don't Over-Cream

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. No properly creamed butter = no air = no fluffiness.

Firstly, you need to mix your baking powder/bicarbonate of soda through your flour before you add this to the mixture. These two ingredients are the most common raising agents in baking, so I've focused on them here (also make sure they are in date!).

Flour is perhaps the most important ingredient in a cake mix, as it creates the basic structure of the entire cake. A major component of flour is gluten, which is a protein that provides a way for the cake to bind to itself.

Why does oil give cake superior texture? Butter is 18% water, so when the batter is baked, some of its liquid evaporates. Replacing the water from the butter with oil means there's more fat left in the cakes to ensure tenderness.

Applesauce acts much like the fat. It keeps the flour protein from mixing completely with the wet ingredients and forming a rubbery, dense texture. This is what does applesauce do in baking.

A blend of these two ingredients gives the cake the best possible flavor and texture. Butter provides flavor while oil adds moisture and keeps it from being too dry. A cake made with all oil would be moist but lacking in flavor, and an all-butter cake may have a more buttery taste, but would be more dry.

Gradually add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Finally, alternate adding the dry ingredients and liquid (such as milk or buttermilk), beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix. This will result in a tender and fluffy cake.

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.

How to enhance chocolate flavor in cake? ›

There's a simple trick to making chocolate desserts taste even better. Sure, cocoa powder and chopped chocolate give anything a rich, chocolate flavor. But if you want that flavor to be more complex and intense, add a little coffee to the recipe.

Success of a cake depends on the correct blending of ingredients, the careful creaming of butter and sugar, as well as the gentle folding of egg whites (if added separately) to maintain maximum aeration. Please read Basic Rules For Baking. Fold or Folding: A method of gently mixing ingredients.

Combine ingredients as gently as possible without overmixing. Creamed butter and sugar should be pale and fluffy, never yellow and gritty. Butter temperature is a vital detail that should not be overlooked. Don't open the oven door until goods are done baking.

Melted butter serves the same purpose as oil, while also adding richness and depth to the cake. Unsalted butter is the best choice, unless you have a salt tooth, like me, and prefer desserts with a little extra salt to balance out the sweetness. In that case, you can use salted butter.

To make it, start by combining tomato soup and baking soda together in a bowl. This will help neutralize the acidic taste of the canned ingredient. Next, beat together sugar, butter, egg, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Mix in the tomato soup mixture, then stir in flour and raisins.