How do I achieve a rich, moist, fluffy chocolate cake that Bruce Bogtrotter in Matilda would be proud of?
Katie, London N17
“The key to most fluffy cakes is the addition of oil,” says Phil Khoury, author of A New Way to Bake. That could come, he says, via replacing “up to 50%” of the butter in a recipe with neutral oil or substituting it entirely, the reason being that “oils are liquid at both fridge and room temperatures, whereas butter has to go above 25C for it to take on the attributes you associate with a moist cake”. Also, as butter starts to solidify, it has a drying effect on cakes, so having some oil in there will help soften things, Khoury adds.
There is, of course, no butter involved in Khoury’s vegan take on the theme. “I use olive oil, but not a lot, especially when you’re in the business of not using eggs.” Typically, “you need quite a lot of fat to tenderise the gelling effect of eggs and flour, so, if you don’t have eggs to contend with, you can use up to 60% less fat”. To lighten things up, he includes apple cider vinegar: “It activates the bicarb and gives it that pre-bake lift, then the baking powder does the rest of the lifting in the oven.”
