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Hi, everyone.
I'm Katie here at Wilton, and today's video
is for all you chocolate lovers out there myself included.
Today, I'm going to show you how to make a delicious homemade
chocolate cake.
If you're used to box cake mixes,
this is the perfect recipe to start with.
It's super easy and pretty foolproof, which
means it's great for beginners.
Now, chocolate cake is actually my absolute favorite.
It's what I always make for myself on my birthday.
Yes, I make my own cake so I have pretty high standards,
and this recipe totally checks all the boxes for me.
It's light and fluffy and just a really great chocolate cake.
And I'd really like some right now.
So let's get started.
Before we do, don't forget to subscribe to our channel
and hit that notification bell so you don't
miss any of our future videos.
First, you're going to want to preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Fahrenheit with your rack in the center position.
Now, you know your oven best.
I keep an oven thermometer in mine
just because an accurate reading will save you
from a whole bunch of problems.
If your oven runs too hot, your cake
could over bake and become dry, or it could bake too quickly
leaving you with a gooey center and overdone edges.
So if you really want that perfect bake,
just get to know your oven a little better.
You also want to make sure that you use the proper cake pan
size for the recipe.
This recipe calls for two nine-inch round pans.
If you need to use a different size,
you might need to adjust the recipe or the baking time
a little.
I'm going to prepare these pans with our Bake-EZ spray, which
is like a vegetable spray.
This will make sure that the cake releases cleanly
from the pan.
One pro tip is to make sure that all of your ingredients
are at room temperature before you start.
This will just make sure everything blends
together nicely, and it'll give you a lighter, more tender
texture in your cake.
You also want to make sure to measure
your ingredients carefully.
For dry ingredients, I like to spoon it into a measuring cup
and then level off the top.
Or you can use a scale if you prefer.
Changing the ratios of the ingredients
will change the structure and the taste of the recipes
so we want to try and avoid that.
You want to make sure you use real chocolate in the recipe,
which is usually in those bars you
can find in the baking aisle, and not chocolate chips.
I don't think I've ever bad talked a chocolate chip before,
but they do have other ingredients added, and they
just won't produce the same results in this recipe.
Same goes for your cookies.
If you need a good chocolate chip cookie recipe,
we've linked a video with me below.
I'm going to go ahead and combine
2 and 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda
and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl.
Then, in a microwave safe bowl, we're
going to combine 6 ounces of chocolate
and 3/4 of a cup of butter.
We're going to microwave this at half power for one minute
and then give it a stir.
Then after that, just keep microwaving
at half power in 30-second intervals stirring
after each time just until the mixture is smooth and melted.
I didn't really feel like messing
with a double boiler for this, but that
could be an option, too.
Now I'm going to transfer this chocolate butter
mixture to a mixing bowl, and then I'm
going to add 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar
and beat it with an electric mixer on medium speed
until well blended.
Next, we can add our three eggs one
at a time and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
and mix that together.
Then it's time to add our flour mixture,
and we're going to do this alternately with our 1 and 1/2
cups of milk.
I like to do flour, milk, flour, milk, flour just
to make sure nothing puffs up in your face.
Then beat this until it's smooth and well blended.
Just don't go too crazy here.
Over beating the batter will make it denser,
and it won't rise as well.
Don't forget to scrape the sides down a little
just to make sure it's all incorporated.
Then we can divide our mixture into the prepared pans.
I'm just going to eyeball this, but if you
want to be more precise, you could
use a scale or the toothpick test we showed
in our yellow cake video.
If you wanted to use Bake Even Strips, this would be the time
to put them on, but just be aware,
you'll probably need to add about seven minutes
to your bake time.
As we place our cakes in the oven,
just be sure to leave about an inch of space between the two
pans.
This will help with airflow and just making
sure you get a nice, even bake.
We're going to bake these for about 33 to 37 minutes
or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Trust me, as much as it's tempting to cut into this right
away, chocolate cake tends to be tender and slightly crumbly
so it's really best let your cake fully cool
so that it can set properly.
I'm going to leave these guys in the pans for about 10 minutes.
Then I'll take them out and move them over to a cooling grate
to cool completely.
Once your cake is completely cool,
you can break out the icing.
You don't want to try and frost this guy
until it is fully cooled.
Otherwise, your icing is just going
to melt right off the cake, which
will give the cake a weird sticky texture.
If I'm feeling in the mood for a bit of a chocolate
explosion, which is always, I usually
just whip up a batch of Wilton's chocolate buttercream frosting.
To make it nice and pretty, you can either add some sprinkles,
or my favorite, chocolate curls, or find more inspiration
on wilton.com.
OK, I've waited long enough.
Let's cut a slice of this guy.
Oh, look at that chocolatey goodness.
I hope this video was helpful and that it
becomes your go-to chocolate cake recipe as it is mine.
If you have any questions or suggestions for other videos
you'd like to see next, please leave a comment below,
and we'll be sure to get back to you.
If you like this video, don't forget
to give us a thumbs up and share this video with all
your chocolate loving friends.
They'll thank you.
I promise.
And be sure to subscribe to our channel
if you haven't already done so.
I'm Katie from Wilton.
Happy baking.
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