While most people might, somewhat accurately, think that any chocolate cake topping is the “right” topping, there is actually much more to it than that. For example, it might sound good to pair a dark chocolate cake with a bittersweet chocolate buttercream because the two flavors are chocolate cake in Auckland so similar, but in reality these kinds of combination could end up being nauseatingly sweet and rich. The way to select the right topping for a chocolate cake is to first determine if the frosting really “works” with the type and flavor of the cake selected.
What does that mean? The type of cake indicates the type of “crumb” and texture that the cake has, and the flavor simply means the actual variety of cake. Is it to be a yellow cake, vanilla, chocolate? Is it to be a soaked cake, a packed cake, a cake made with fruit and loco? All of these factors have a tremendous impact on the type of frosting or topping used. For instance, is the topping to be deep and light? Is it to be more of a glaze? Perhaps a chocolate fondant is the solution? It takes some thought and even a bit of experimentation to select the ideal partnering.
Luckily, the large number of recipes for icings using chocolate as the main flavor makes it somewhat easy to manufacture a winning combination. There is then the need to really gauge end result before investing in the recipe ingredients, because there is always the issue of the weight of the cake and the topping too. This means that you should consider if the cake can actually “stand up” beneath the weight of the frosting.
Need an example? For this model we will say that you are trying to select the right topping for a plate of cupcakes that can absolutely be served at a party. You want to decorate these cupcakes with symbols and designs that match the overall theme of the party. You know that the cupcake batter is based on a golden cake and that it has the type of texture that is identical to a cloth or sponge cake recipe ingredients. This means that the cake can easily stand up to heavier icings, and would in fact be a little more fitted to them. This means you can scout out a good ganache, fondant, or chocolate glaze recipe ingredients to use on this more robust type of cake. Had you wanted a lighter batter, such as a cake mix that boasted of its soaked and deep texture, you would have been better served by a chocolate buttercream or a whipped frosting that didn’t put any sort of weight atop the cake.
We have considered the various factors that you should use when selecting a frosting recipe ingredients, and they add weight of the cake and the topping, the balance of sweetness and flavor, and the ability for the chocolate frosting to really work with the actual cake itself. When you make a habit of considering these factors before selecting a recipe ingredients, you can usually anticipate really excellent results.