Design your own chocolate cake

Flour

250 g, about 2 cups, makes one typical cake.

Start from a recipe

1. Cocoa

   60 g · 23%about 2/3 cup

   0%median 23%44%

   In the middle: 49% of recipes use more, 50% less.

   Cocoa powder carries most chocolate cakes' flavor; it absorbs liquid and makes the crumb drier and more tender.

2. Chocolate

   none · 0%

   0%median 0% · 63% use none122%

   None, like 63% of recipes.

   Melted chocolate in the batter adds cocoa butter for a denser, fudgier cake; many recipes use cocoa alone.

3. Sugar

   355 g · 142%about 1 3/4 cups

   72%median 142%230%

   In the middle: 50% of recipes use more, 49% less.

   Chocolate cakes run sweet, often well over the flour's weight, to balance the cocoa's bitterness.

4. Fat

   155 g · 62%about 2/3 cup

   28%median 62%154%

   In the middle: 49% of recipes use more, 50% less.

   Oil is common here, since cocoa already brings flavor and oil keeps the cake moist.

5. Egg

   115 g · 46%about 2 1/2 large eggs

   0%median 46%102%

   In the middle: 48% of recipes use more, 51% less.

   Eggs set the cake; fewer make it more tender and fudgy.

6. Liquid

   345 g · 138%about 1 1/2 cups

   60%median 138%220%

   In the middle: 50% of recipes use more, 49% less.

   Milk or buttermilk, often plus hot water or coffee, which blooms the cocoa and deepens the flavor.

7. Leavening

   12 g · 4.8%

   2.2%median 4.8%7.7%

   In the middle: 48% of recipes use more, 49% less.

   Baking soda reacts with natural cocoa and buttermilk; Dutch-process recipes lean on baking powder.

8. Salt

   3 g · 1.1%

   0%median 1.1% · 30% use none2.7%

   In the middle: 47% of recipes use more, 48% less.

   Salt deepens the chocolate.