I had to pick between a new recipe or my grandma's old one for a birthday cake

My sister wanted a chocolate cake for her party last week, and I was torn between a fancy new one I saw online and my grandma's simple, handwritten recipe from the 80s. I went with the new one, and it was a total fail, way too dense and dry, while the old one is always a win. Anyone have a go-to chocolate recipe that never lets them down?

2 comments

2 Comments

hannah38515d ago

My friend had the same thing happen with a red velvet cake last month. She tried some trendy recipe with beetroot and it came out tasting like wet dirt, no joke. Her mom's old church cookbook version is the one she swears by now, the one with vinegar in the batter. It sounds weird but it's always so soft and the color is perfect. She won't even look at new recipes anymore lol.

michaelw2615d ago

Yeah, the vinegar thing is science, not just an old wives tale. That acid reacts with the baking soda and buttermilk. It makes tiny bubbles for a super soft crumb, and it actually brightens the red color from the cocoa. All those new recipes swap it for beet juice or tons of food dye and miss the whole point. They're just making a red cake, not a real red velvet.