CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKES

CHOCOLATE CAKES CAN BE LIGHT AND tender, rich and fudgy, or anywhere in between. Minor ingredient changes may produce significant differences in texture and flavor. A master recipe with five variations follows. Each variation is quite distinct and is matched with a frosting that complements the cake layers.

There are a number of general principles that apply to all chocolate cakes. The most important issue is the chocolate. We have found that dissolving cocoa in boiling water produces the best chocolate cake. The color is dark and the chocolate flavor intense. Mixing cocoa into the batter with the dry ingredients does not yield the same strong flavor or dark color.

Our kitchen tests show that cakes made with unsweetened or semisweet chocolate, as opposed to cocoa powder, are not as moist or flavorful. Cooking the chocolate over boiling water for several minutes ruptures some of the cocoa particles and helps release more flavor. But in the end, cocoa powder is more easily incorporated in cake batters and delivers more punch.

Nonalkalinized natural cocoas like Hershey's make a cake that is slightly blacker and pleasantly bitter. Cakes made with dutched cocoa, which has been treated with an alkali to raise its pH, tend to have a fainter, mellower chocolate flavor. The distinctions are minor, but we prefer natural American cocoa in the following recipes.

The liquid ingredients in a chocolate cake are the other important variable. Milk (as opposed to water) mutes the chocolate flavor (dairy fat is a flavor blocker) but also makes the texture a little more substantial. Buttermilk and yogurt tenderize the crumb and add moistness while sour cream results in a dense yet melting texture.