Ok. So here is the start of our mud cake scratch-off!

I was thinking one month will give enough time to bake two (or more) cakes. So we can plan to have our reviews back before the end of the month.

(*And if there is enough interest in these I thought a good idea would be to start a new scratch-off every other month so that in Sep. we vote for a new flavor (or type) and collect recipes so the next bake-off would start in Oct.)

Anyway, let's keep in similar to previous scratch-offs when it comes to rules and testing. But I've added some new ones after reading through some comments.

Rules:
1. Please follow the recipe and don't make substitutions for ingredients. The recipes can be halved, cut in thirds, or quartered if needed.
2. Be honest without being cruel.
3. Please try at least two recipes.
4. Cake should be eaten PLAIN at room temperature when evaluated.
5. Bonus if you are able to take pictures (and post a link to a pic. gallery)

Judging Criteria:
1. Flavor
2. Texture/Crumb
3. Moistness
4. Ease of recipe
5. Cost
6. 3-day test: evaluate flavor, texture/crumb and moistness again three days after cake was bakes (and from what I've read about mud cakes, it should only get better)

Here are two points I wanted to see what you all think about. Usually, it's helpful to try a recipe for cupcakes. Can mudcake recipes be converted into cupcakes? Should we try?
Also, for those who freeze our cakes before sampling. Should we all do the same, or should it just be mentioned? (Since it will affect the end result).

Lastly, I added the recipes for white chocolate as well but the main bake-off will be the chocolate recipes!

Recipes:

PAMS CHOCOLATE MUDCAKE
INGREDIENTS
20cm round Double quantity does 24cm round 2-1/2 inch deep
250g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1-1/3 cups warm water
1-1/2 cups self raising flour
1 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
DIRECTIONS
1. Grease and line base and sides of cake pan with one thickness of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above side of pan.
2. Combine chopped butter, chopped chocolate, coffee, and water in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Cool 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl of mixer.
3. Add caster sugar to mixture and beat well until dissolved. Add sifted flour and cocoa, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla.
4. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
5. Bake at 150′C for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Test with skewer. Cool cake in pan.


EXCLUSIVELY FOODS CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE
Serves at least 16.
250g chocolate (we use 125g dark chocolate and 125g milk chocolate)
250g butter (if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon salt with the butter)
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules/powder
188ml (3/4 cup) water
325g (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons) plain flour
30g (1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons) cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
550g (2 1/2 cups) caster sugar
4 large eggs (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
2 tablespoons (40ml) oil (we use peanut oil, but any mild-flavoured oil could be used)
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
125ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk
Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (not fan-forced).

Grease the side and base of a deep 23cm or 24cm diameter (inside top measurement) round cake pan. We use a springform pan for easy removal of the cake. Line base and side of the pan with non-stick baking paper, extending the paper a few centimetres above the top rim of the pan.

Place 250g chocolate, butter, coffee and water in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. When chocolate and butter have melted, remove mixture from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm/room temperature. © exclusivelyfood.com.au

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a very large bowl.
Add the caster sugar to the bowl with the flour mixture, and stir the ingredients together until well combined. For this recipe, we prefer to use a whisk to stir ingredients together.
In a medium bowl, place eggs, oil, vanilla and buttermilk.
Whisk the wet ingredients together until well combined.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Add the chocolate mixture to the egg and flour mixture in a three batches, stirring until combined after each addition.
Pour mixture into prepared pan.
Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes (24cm pan) or 1 hour and 30 minutes (23cm pan). Insert a thin-bladed knife or wooden skewer into the centre of the cake to test whether it is cooked through. If the knife/skewer comes out clean or with moist crumbs (not gooey batter) attached, the cake is ready.

Remove cake from oven, cover with a clean tea towel and allow to cool in the pan.

When the cake has cooled to room temperature, remove it from the pan. The top surface of the cake will probably have a crunchy crust, which you may wish to trim off. We turn the cake upside down to give a flat surface for icing.


DARK CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE
Ingredients
150gms dark chocolate buttons (I use Callebaut)
250gms butter
1 cup of milk
440gms granulated sugar
2 extra large eggs
4tbs whiskey (80mls)
80gms self raising flour
120gms plain flour
100gms unsweetened cocoa

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
2. Heat milk and sugar in a heavy pan, once heated (do not allow it to boil)
3. Add butter and stir until melted
4. Add dark buttons and stir till all combined. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
5. Sift flours and cocoa together.
6. Add the two eggs and whiskey to the cooled liquid mixture above and then whisk in the flours.
7. Pour in a 8" round pan, and bake for 60-70 minutes, until done. It's done when a wooden skewer inserted in to the center comes out clean.(This cake can take considerably longer, i just baked one and a half recipes in a 10 inch pan and that took almost 3


BLUEHUES DARK CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE
Ingredients
250g unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon instant coffee powder
1 & 2/3 cup coconut milk
200g dark chocolate
2 cups caster sugar
3/4 cup self raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder (I use Dutch cocoa)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract




Method

1. Preheat oven to 150C A SLOW OVEN FOR US IS = 150c = 275/300F
And Line tins with baking paper.

2. Combine butter, coffee powder, coconut milk, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan and stir until melted. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

3. Sift dry ingredients in a bowl, add chocolate mixture, whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla, whisk.
.
4. Pour into tins

5. Bake in slow oven for about 1hr and 45 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and cool in tin.

This cake improves each day and is at its peak on about day 3. It also freezes really well




WHITE CHOCOLATE MUD CAKES:

Recommended by FrecklesCakes

Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, chopped
200g white chocolate, chopped coarsely
2¼ cups (450g) firmly packed brown sugar
1½ cups (375ml) water
2 cups (300g) plain flour
2/3 cup (100g) self-raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 eggs, beaten lightly

Caramel Frosting
125g butter, chopped
3/4c - 1 cup (200g) firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
1½ cups (240g) icing sugar mixture

Directions
1. Preheat oven to slow (150°C/130°C fan-forced). Grease deep 22cm-round cake pan; line base and side with baking paper, extending paper 5cm above edge of pan.
2. Combine butter, chocolate, sugar and the water in medium saucepan; stir over low heat until mixture is smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl; cool 15 minutes. Whisk in flours, then essence and eggs.
3. Pour mixture into prepared pan; bake in slow oven about 2 hours. Stand in pan 10 minutes; turn onto wire rack to cool.
4. Place cake, top side up, on serving plate; spread cold cake with caramel frosting.
CARAMEL FROSTING
Melt butter in small saucepan. Stir in brown sugar and milk; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 3 minutes, cool. Gradually stir in icing sugar until frosting is of spreadable consistency.

Shared by Bluehue

250g butter
250g white chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
200mls water
.......Melt all of these together in a saucepan

.......then

1 cup SR flour...sifted
1 3/4 cup plain flour...sifted
2 eggs...
1/2 cup sourcream
AND I ADD I TEASPOON OF VANILLA PASTE - WHICH WASN'T IN THE ORIGINAL RECIPE.,,,,makes a differance -

......Mix into chocolate mixture.

Bake at 160C for up to 2 hours - this is for a 10" round cake tin but will all depend on tin used and your oven

I use this for cupcakes and cakes
My oven is fan forced so i knock the temp own during the last 45 mins.



Ok! Please use this list for "signing up" to a recipe. Copy the lastly made list, paste it into your post and add your name to the recipes you would like to try.

1) Pam's Chocolate Mud Cake
2) Exclusively Food's Chocolate Mud Cake
3) Dark Chocolate Mud Cake
4) Bluehue's Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

5) FrecklesCakes' White Chocolate Mud Cake
6) Bluehue's White Chocolate Mud Cake


Oh, and please let me know if there was anything I forgot to include!

My go to recipe is on your list and I love it.

Be sure to cool the cake completely in the tin until it is cold otherwise it will sink, overnight is best i have found.
Mud Cakes are also usually baked in a 3 inch deep tin. Fully lined and collared. Slow and steady baking is best foil can be placed on top before baking.

I hope you don't mind me throwing a few tip's out there.

I'm in! I'll take Blue's chocolate and white chocolate mud. I'm being biased because I <3 Bluehue.

Jen

OK can someone clarify the % chocolate used by our pals down under? I use 72% bittersweet and 31% cocoa white. Will those be OK or are they too high?

Jen

Just got an email from a cakepal alerting me to this ....

I am PAM! lol

The chocolate I use is approx 53% - my take on mudcakes is if you like to eat the chocolate that you are going to put into your recipe it should be fine - so if you taste it and it is too bitter for you - don't use it

I'm just watching this, but I just thought of something. Will the measurements/weights work for everybody? Does one have to worry about the difference between US cups and Australian cups, for example?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_(unit)

Aussie cups are 250ml, I think US cups are 200ml.

It's the japanese cups that are 200ml, US cups are 240ml.

Also AU tablespoons are 20ml, everywhere else 15ml

Strange isn't it!

On the bottom of the Recipe that I posted on here - I included a few tips for cross-continent baking - eg... conversions

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/14688/pams-chocolate-mudcake

Hello fellow bakeers...Its Blue
Thought i felt my ears burning -

Please keep in mind that Mud Cakes aren't meant to be eaten on the 1st or 2nd day of baking - they need time to *set up* as we say down here.
Best eaten on the 3rd day........ or even the 5th.

By popping the cake in the freezer for at least 24 hours will make a huge difference to the taste and texture - also the depth/flavour of the cake.

Thought i would just give you the heads up on this as it can eiher make or break your thoughts about ever baking one again.


For those who wish to convert Metric measurements into Imperial - this is a very handy site to have on hand.... http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measures.cfm


Kitchen is calling - i have 2 x 7 inch round Chocolate Mud Cakes in the oven as i type.

Enjoy.



ps - aweeee FromScratch - thanks petal - i think your also.

pss - Pams recipe produces a great cake
Blue.

Okay, so I did Pam's recipe and took the tips from the previous thread of brushing with boiling water 3X and covering with plastic wrap. Totally not dry on top at all, so it worked PERFECT. Okay, followed Pam's recipe to the T and...LOVED IT!!! I aslo put the collar on it, so I did foloow it to the T. First, let me say, I am so NOT a chocolate person AT ALL. This cake was wonderful. My kids who are true chocoholics (I mean serious ones, not like how kids love chocolate, but chocoholics) absolutely loved it. Now I have a great go to chocolate recipe, but this will be it for now on.

So after the first day it tasted great, the second day I would say the biggest difference to me is the texture is more "fudgey". I guess I should have waited until tomorrow, but my kids all ready cut into the cake. Cost wise, I would say it's a little more expensive then my regular chocolate cake, cause of the butter. But that's the only cost difference. As far as rising, I put the entire recipe in a 10" pan with a collar. It came up a little over the pan, but then went back down and leveled off with the top of the pan. I find this cake so much easier to make then a butter cake, so if you can bake that, this will not break you at all. It's a great tasting, easy as heck to make chocolate cake. Next, caramel mud cake!

Oh yeah, can't answer for cupcakes, cause well, I don't do them. But yes for carving ability!

I have made Blue's Chocolate Mud cake 2 or 3 times .It is AWESOME !!!

I'm in! This is my first scratch-off and I'm so excited!

1) Pam's Chocolate Mud Cake
2) Exclusively Food's Chocolate Mud Cake
3) Dark Chocolate Mud Cake - Madicakes
4) Bluehue's Dark Chocolate Mud Cake
5) FrecklesCakes' White Chocolate Mud Cake - Madicakes
6) Bluehue's White Chocolate Mud Cake

This looks fun for sure, but I'll have to order a food scale online... I still use measuring cups I'll also have to research all the conversions to make sure my teaspoons and tablespoons are the same as in y'alls recipes. I've been dying to try out a proper mudcake for a while ^_^ I wouldn't know what to rate it against though, as I've never had mudcake before!

Nymphony - mud cakes are REALLY forgiving. Don't worry too much if you're still using measuring cups, they're not as delicate as buttercakes.

AU tablespoon = 20ml (rest of world = 15ml)
AU cup = 250ml (US = 240ml)
AU teaspoon = 5ml - same as rest of world I think?

Yup. Our teaspoon is 5 ml. I did weight what I could, but the cups, I just used ours and the cake came out great. So Zespri is spot on when she says they are forgiving.

I'm not sure if I am allowed to join this scratch off -- I had just baked Pam's dark choc mud cake, Exclusively Food's dark choc mud cake, and EF's white choc mud cake, all of these last week (July) since this scratch off is for Aug.
I wanted to try Bluehue's but I didn't hv coconut milk and sour cream on hand.

I haven't tasted Pam's (still freezing in my freezer, and am unsure how long I can freeze it and for it to still taste good?) but EF's dark choc mud cake tasted awesome and divine, all my friends who tasted it (10 of them) thought the same. However the white choc version tasted pretty bland, even after 3 days (which is supposedly the best time to eat it).

I read reviews where ppl had domed mud cakes, happy to report that I had none, all were pretty level, could be due to the wet towel wrapped around the pan.

Hmm... I never received any notifications about replies to this post.

Frecklescakes - I'm sorry I got the recipe name wrong. But I'm glad it's a caramel cake because after reading about them I have been wanting to try it!

Thanks for all the tips about the mud cakes. I agree, the tree day test does not have the same purpose for mud cakes since that is the day it's supposed to be eaten. Should we all eat it on the third day for the evaluation instead?

Also, I forgot to include that when we evaluate, we can rate each criteria from 1-10 (10 being the best rating).

Thanks for all the already baked and reviewed cakes. They are all helpful!

Here is the baking list:

1) Pam's Chocolate Mud Cake - Adevag
2) Exclusively Food's Chocolate Mud Cake -
3) Dark Chocolate Mud Cake - Madicakes
4) Bluehue's Dark Chocolate Mud Cake - Adevag
5) FrecklesCakes' Caramel Chocolate Mud Cake - Madicakes, Adevag
6) Bluehue's White Chocolate Mud Cake -

Not sure how much comparison I will be able to provide as I'm an Aussie anyway but I will participate!

1) Pam's Chocolate Mud Cake
3) Dark Chocolate Mud Cake
5) FrecklesCakes' White Chocolate Mud Cake

Above are the ones I will try out this month. I believe #3 comes from here: http://www.how2cakes.com/darkmud.html I've used it several times in a modified form with toblerone chocolate and substituting the whisky for honey & amaretto. I will try it as specified in the original recipe for this test

I've been meaning to try Pam's recipe so this is a great excuse

Ug, so I am super busy, do we have a time frame to have done this by? Didi I miss it somewhere?

J

I got a box of white chocolate and some coconut milk with your name all over it calling to me in my pantry, Blue. I really want to try that cake. I have yet to taste a "white chocolate" cake that actually tastes like white chocolate, so I imagine your mud to be the cake to end all cake! LOL!

I just need to get thru this next week - my first 200 person wedding cake. Fondant. Stencils. Quilting. Sanding sugar. Sugar peonies and roses. Monogram (Lambeth method). I think I'm throwing in everything but the kitchen sink at this design! Aaaaaand THEN I'll have some free time to make new cake.

My husband thinks I'm nuts. That's because I am.