Here's a secret to making great chocolate cake: use a sourdough starter for extra flavour and texture.
My husband absolutely loves this cake! We took one of the reviewers suggestions on keeping it in the fridge and that makes it even better. Thanks! - 28 Jan 2002 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
I loved the recipe with a few alterations. instead of one cup of water i added a cup of buttermilk, to enhance the sourdough flavor and make it richer. adding half unsweetened chocolate and half chocolate instant jello powder made it stick together better and made it a little sweeter, both good things. all in all, a big hit - 01 Jul 2008 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
I made some changes to try to avoid a dry cake. I used a whole cup of shortening (trans fat-free) and added a half cup of half and half. There is surprisingly little liquid in the original recipe, which is probably why people found it dry. My changes did make it moist, but this cake has a very fine crumb which makes it fall apart easily. I think next time I will add some instant chocolate pudding to deepend the chocolate flavor and see if it helps the crumbs hold together. The flavor was great and I frosted it with chocolate cream cheese frosting for Valentines Day. I will use this recipe again, but continue to tweek it until I get exactly what I want. A great start though, thanks Sally! - 14 Feb 2005 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)