You shouldn’t use chocolate for chocolate cake base, says master pastry chef Eero Paulamäki.
When baking a chocolate cake base, you should always use cocoa powder. Adobe Stock/AOP
How to create the perfect chocolate cake? The master pastry chef at Fazer Café Kluuvikatu knows that Eero Paulamäkiwhich will represent the Nordic countries and the Baltics this fall at the World Chocolate Masters competition in Paris.
You might suddenly think that you should choose the highest quality chocolate for the chocolate cake base. Paulamäki immediately refutes the belief as false. In fact, according to the master pastry chef, you shouldn’t use chocolate in the chocolate cake base.
– It is a common mistake to make the cake as chocolatey as possible, says Paulamäki.
– Chocolate, like butter, is hard and solid at room temperature. When the cake is moistened, the moistening liquid, be it juice or sugar water, does not penetrate the cake. So it does not moisten the cake, but remains floating on the surface of the cake and then comes out from between the cake.
You should use cocoa for the chocolate cake base and save the chocolate itself for the frosting and fillings that go between the cake. Paulamäki prefers the familiar Van Houten cocoa, but the brand doesn’t really matter. The main thing is that the cocoa powder is dark and unsweetened.
Forget butter too
Another common mistake when baking a chocolate cake is using a recipe that uses butter for the cake base. The reason is the same as with chocolate.
– I recommend using recipes where the fat is cooking oil, because it is soft even when taken out of the refrigerator, the master pastry chef instructs.
When serving chocolate cake, it is especially important to let the cake come to room temperature before cutting it.
– Chocolate cake should be taken out of the refrigerator at least half an hour before serving, chocolate mousse cake 15–20 minutes before serving.