Brownie Vs. Cake

What’s the difference between a brownie (or blondie) and a cake?

Cakes, Cookies, and Brownies

A brownie is in between a cake and cookie. Cakes are airy and lightly sweetened, to balance against the frosting, which is both sweet and rich. A cookie is dense, crisp, and sweet. Brownies are on the spectrum in between the two.

Rich Chocolate Cake

What about those Devil’s Food cake? If you compare the recipe ratios, you’ll find they map closely to brownies. The primary difference is the presence of leavening and liquid. The characteristic of Devil’s Food is the richness and decadence. Often melted chocolate is added to the batter, as is also common in brownie recipes.

How does one make a cake more like Devil’s Food? Reduce the flour, which increases the density and enhances the richness via mouthfeel. Then add more fat. Add more eggs, which replaces the lost structure. Not adding eggs would reduce leavening, leading to more brownie-like product. The liquid will tend to be reduced, as increased egg and fat will give the batter teh needed looseness.

Cake Mixes

You can use cake mixes to make brownies. It’s often as simple as removing all liquid and increasing the fat a touch.

To go in reverse (brownie mix to make a cake), you can add egg and liquid. Although I think it’s less common to have a brownie mix lying around but want a cake.