ED 714: Networked Learning Project A Chocolate Lovers Dream Cake

As you know I have chosen to make a delicious chocolate cake from scratch. You would think this process was a straight forward one. However, I have come to the conclusion there are a multitude of decisions that need to be made before even starting. Which chocolate to use? Do I use powder cocoa or chocolate alone? Should I sift the flour and other ingredients or is it not necessary? Will I do a cake with filling, or not, maybe a sheet cake? What about the finishing touches...frosting or ganache? I had more questions than answers so I had to go out online to do some researching.

The first stop I made was to Google communities to see if there was a chocolate lovers community, more specifically a chocolate cake community. Although the were several communities to join no one in particular fit what I was looking for. So where do I start, I don't want to make a chocolate cake, I want to make a Great Chocolate Cake!

Off to Google Search. The first thing I thought I should know was which brand of chocolate is best used for baking cakes. Well, who knew that Bakers Chocolate is not, by any means, a favored contender. One blog, @ Chow Discussions, had some simple advise for choosing your chocolate, "if it tastes good to you when you eat it plain it going to taste good in your cake" This post also listed several good brands of chocolate to investigate.

After watching several videos (which I put in Pocket for viewing later) I have decided to use a good 70% dark chocolate (brand yet to be determined) along with cocoa powder. I will sift my dry components. I will be making a layered chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream filling and a glazed ganache icing. Several postings mentioned Trader Joe's as having a good selection of dark chocolate, I will start there. I have not finalized my recipe as of yet, I believe I will use a combination of three, one for the cake, one for the butter cream filing and one for the gnache icing. Will keep you posted.