One of the most important things necessary to sculpt a novelty cake is a perfect base. A cake that can be cut and manipulated without falling apart. A cake with a soft crumb and yet taste delicious. This chocolate cake perfect for carving will prove the best sculpting cake recipe for you.
Table of Content
When you ask a person how they like their cake, almost everyone will say rich and moist. But carving a rich and moist cake is definitely difficult and not recommended for novelty cakes and a cake not rich and moist is definitely not desirable. So... MUST find the right balance. I think I did. This is the best sculpting cake recipe you will love.
About this cake
I wish you could see how soft and moist my carving cake recipes are. I have been using this chocolate cake recipe for carving - for a long time now and carved many cakes very successfully. It's not as dense as a pound or sponge cake but not as delicate as a simple moist, classic chocolate, or death by chocolate cake recipes.
I strongly recommended that you freeze the cake for an hour at least before you carve it. Freezing the cake helps with fewer crumbs. So while I say this is dense it's also rich and delicious. Some of the cakes I've made with this chocolate as well as my vanilla cake for carving recipe have had rave reviews from my customers.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Butter - I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can control the quantity of salt in my recipe. And yet, if salted butter is all you have, go ahead and use it. Just omit salt in the recipe.
- Brown sugar - contributes to a nice soft tender crumb and gives a nice color. The molasses in the brown sugar adds a caramel-like flavor too.
- Eggs - Always use large size eggs when baking unless specified. The size of the eggs varies these days significantly. So as a guide one large egg weighs between 50 to 60 grams.
- Vanilla - A good quality vanilla will make a huge difference in anything you make. Premium vanilla can be expensive, which is why I make my homemade vanilla extract, bean paste or sugar.
- All-purpose flour - Yes, regular plain flour (maida) is all you need for this cake. And, since self-raising flours contain leavening they must be used with caution.
- Cocoa Powder - I use regular Dutch-processed cocoa powder for my cake baking.
Step by step instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F/165°C/ Gas Mark 3
- Grease and line the baking pan you plan to use for your novelty cake.
Pro tip - Makes a 1-inch height 9 x 13-inch sheet pan or 2 x 7-inch round cakes - Sift dry ingredients - flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream soft room temperature butter, sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla extract.
Pro tip - for this method to work the butter must be soft at room temperature otherwise the batter will be very lumpy. Alternatively, you can cream the butter and sugar first then add the eggs one at a time. - Next, add the flour mixture followed by the buttermilk and coffee in three batches.
- Pour into your baking pan and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Pro tip - if using two pans the baking time will be reduced to about 20 to 25 minutes. - Cool in the baking pan for 5 minutes. Invert and cool on a wire rack completely before you decorate
Pro tip - it is very important that the cakes are completely cooled before frosting. Otherwise, the frosting will melt on the warm cakes. - Once cooled wrap in two plastic wraps, followed by aluminum foil. Place in the freezer for at least one hour before you carve into it.
Pro tip - freezing the cake for an hour will make it easier to carve with fewer cake crumbs. But, freezing it hard will make it difficult to carve with more crumbs.
How much cake do I need?
One of the most common questions I get is how much cake do I need? When it comes to novelty cake it's difficult for me to say.
For example, I can't say, you need two of these for a car cake. Why? because it depends on the size of your car template. However, I can say that this cake serves 15 to 20 people. But, it can be double and more, successfully.
So, if you choose to make a cake for 60 then you'd multiply the recipe times 3 and follow the same method as below. This cake serving chart guide will help you decide how much cake you need.
Frequently asked questions
Using unsalted butter means you can control the amount of salt in the recipe. Having said that, you can use salted butter in most cakes and omit the salt in the recipe.
Often people think a dense cake can be kept for longer. True, it does have a longer shelf life than most other cakes. And yet, even a dense cake will stay at room temperature for only 3 to 4 days. You can keep it longer if you wrap well in plastic and keep it in the fridge.
This chocolate carving is delicious on its own, especially when it's fresh so don't be afraid to use it for not just sculpting. I like to use a butter-based or chocolate-based frosting for my sculpted cakes. The butter and chocolate both firm with chilled which works in favor of cutting and manipulating the cake as needed.
For most of my sculpted cakes, I use any one of these frostings
Velvet American buttercream,
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Chocolate Ganache or white chocolate ganache
Don't be afraid to try my other flavored buttercream recipes as well - see more than 30 plus buttercream frosting recipes
No, this recipe works best with eggs but I do have an eggless chocolate fudge cake that I have used for carving and is very popular with my visitors on this blog.
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Printable Recipe
Chocolate Cake Perfect for Carving
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Ingredients
Makes 2 x 7-inch cakes or one 9 x 13-inch rectangle cake
- 8 oz (226 g) Butter (unsalted, room temperature)
- 1 cup (220 g) Brown sugar (light)
- 2 cups (250 g) All-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¾ cup (65 g) Cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Coffee (brewed (1 teaspoon coffee powder in ¼ cup water))
- ¾ cup (180 ml) Buttermilk
- 4 Eggs (large)
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F/165°C/ Gas Mark 3
- Grease and line the baking pan you plan to use for your novelty cake. Pro tip - Makes a 1-inch height 9 x 13-inch sheet pan or 2 x 7-inch round cakes
- Sift dry ingredients - flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Cream soft room temperature butter, sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla extract.Pro tip - for this method to work the butter must be soft at room temperature otherwise the batter will be very lumpy. Alternatively, you can cream the butter and sugar first then add the eggs one at a time.
- Next, add the flour mixture followed by the buttermilk and coffee in three batches.
- Pour into your baking pan and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.Pro tip - if using two pans the baking time will be reduced to about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Cool in the baking pan for 5 minutes. Invert and cool on a wire rack completely before you decoratePro tip - it is very important that the cakes are completely cooled before frosting. Otherwise, the frosting will melt on the warm cakes.
- Once cooled wrap in two plastic wraps, followed by aluminum foil. Place in the freezer for at least one hour before you carve into it.Pro tip - freezing the cake for an hour will make it easier to carve with fewer cake crumbs. But, freezing it hard will make it difficult to carve with more crumbs.
Recipe Notes
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature so you have a smooth, not curdled batter.
- Make sure the butter is at soft room temperature otherwise the batter will be very lumpy. Whip the butter, sugar, and egg mixture until it is light and airy. If the mixture curdles, add a teaspoon of flour and whip some more.
- Preheat the oven well in advance so you do not have to wait once the batter is ready.
- It is best to bake cakes on the center rack alternatively, rotate the cake pans halfway through baking for even baking.
- Cake strips are highly recommended to prevent domes that way you do not lose too much cake.
Storage
- Once decorated the cake does not need to be refrigerated unless you use perishable frosting or filling
- It can stay at room temperature for two days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Once cut always cover the cut side of the cake with plastic wrap so the cake does not dry out.
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Pauline Watchorn
I want to make this to make a book for my grandson's birthday cake for about 20 people, about the size of an A4 sheet (about 12 x 10 inches, but would like it to be deeper than 1inch. Would you be able to adjust temperature and times for me. Also, why put coffee in a chocolate cake - I am not abig coffee fan.
Kind regards
Pauline (in Wales)
Veena Azmanov
Hey Pauline. This 9 x 13-inch pan is about an A4 sheet. You can double the batch to make a thicker cake and that would take about 45 to 50 minutes to bake at the same temperature. You can replace the coffee with hot water.
Natasha
Hi Veena,
I want to use this chocolate cake as part of a mousse cake. How long will the cake last if I bake & refrigerate it Sunday as I’m going to assemble on Wednesday & give it out on Friday. Would it be better if I put it in the freezer?
Thanks in advance
Veena Azmanov
Hey Natasha. This cake can keep for up to a week but I highly recommend freezing it as it on Sunday if you plan to frost on Wednesday. That way you will still have a few good days to eat leftovers. Enjoy!
Katy M
This cake was terrific when we used it last year to make a bulldozer cake. But, unfortunately, this year, our child developed a dairy intolerance. Do you have any suitable substitutes for milk and butter?
Veena Azmanov
Katy, sorry to hear about your allergy. You can use almond milk and margarine instead of milk and butter.
Andy
Hi Veena,
I was wondering whether I can use this make a carved cake that will be covered in fondant? I have a 4 year old's birthday and am interested in trying to make a dinosaur cake! Eeek.
Veena Azmanov
Yes, Andy, this cake is perfect for sculpted cakes with buttercream or ganache, and fondant.