As a Filipino expat, one of the things I miss the most is the chocolate cake from Goldilocks and Red Ribbon. I find UK bakery cakes loaded with too much sugar so I thought I need to learn how to bake to create the Filipino taste. I started by getting all the necessary baking equipment from mixing bowl to electric hand mixer. Next thing I did was to research and see what UK brands I could use for that moist chocolate cake. I started baking chocolate cakes in August of this year and in just one month; I was able to bake 3 chocolate cakes and 48 cupcakes! After all the research, trials and experiments I’ve done, I think I found the recipe for that ultimate chocolate cake that would taste like my favourite cakes back home. Let me share with you how to bake using UK ingredients and measurements.
For a three-layered chocolate cake, you would need the following:
Utensils
3 9-inch circular baking tray
Measuring cups
Weighing scale
Large Mixing bowl
Electric mixer/manual whisk
Flexible plastic spatula
Angled Spatula (For frosting)
Drying Rack
Sieve (I use stainless steel strainer)
Greaseproof paper (optional)
Ingredients
For the cake mix:
450 grams all-purpose flour
500 grams castor sugar
155 grams cocoa powder*
4 large eggs
1 tbsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp salt
350ml milk
1 tsp white vinegar
350ml warm water
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
For the frosting:
250 grams unsalted butter
200 grams cream cheese, softened
280 grams powdered sugar
155 grams cocoa powder*
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup milk
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 176°C
- Prepare the buttermilk – In 350ml milk, add 1tsp white vinegar. Stir well and set aside for at least 5 minutes.
- Butter coat the sides of the cake trays and put greaseproof paper on the base. If you do not have greaseproof paper, you can butter coat the base too and dust it with flour then tap the excess out.
- Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a mixer using low speed until combined. I sieve the flour and cocoa powder to make sure there will be no lumps in the cake.
- Add the eggs, buttermilk, warm water, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Mix them all together using medium speed for about 2 minutes or until the mixture is smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly among the three pans. This mixture will fill 3 x 9-inch cake trays. Each pan can contained 3 cups of batter but I use the weighing scale to make sure all three has the same amount.
- Bake for 30-33 minutes. While it’s being baked, you can enjoy watching but NEVER open the oven door. Once out of the oven, you can check if the cakes are cooked by sticking a toothpick in and it should come out clean.
- Place the pans onto the racks and let cool for about 15 minutes and turn out the cakes to the racks to allow them to cool completely.
- As you wait for the cakes to cool down, you can prepare the frosting – In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until it gets fluffy. Use a hand mixer for best result.
- Add in cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Beat until combined.
- Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add milk for consistency. The frosting should be thick and if you wish to make it even more thick, you can refrigerate it.
- Once the cakes have cooled down completely, apply the cake frosting in between the layers, the top and the sides. Decorate it as you like.
* Choose a high quality cocoa powder brand because the taste of the cake would depend on it. For this cake, I used Bournville cocoa powder. I used the Asda brand cocoa powder before and that is surprisingly good too.
I’m going to the Philippines soon and looking forward to eating cake there!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m sure you’d have a great time with or without trying the cakes there. Have a nice trip!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I must admit I love cakes loaded with sugar (I’m a real sugar addict), but this one looks appealing too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! Tastes better than it looks. 😉
LikeLike
Fantastic ! I think you have given more efforts for it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! A cake for the family is always worth the effort. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very true.
LikeLike
This is great news to us. Thank you so much for sharing your article. may i’ll recommend your blog and let my friends know about your post?
LikeLike