Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
As decadently dark, sinful, and tempting as its name implies, devil's food cake was invented in the early 1900s as an antipode to the already famed angel food cake. It emerged at a time when baking chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder became readily available and affordable, and has been an all-time favorite ever since. Among a number of other chocolate-battered cakes, the first recipes actually dubbed devil's food appeared in 1902, one published in Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book, and the other in The New Dixie Receipt Book in which it was slyly subtitled "Fit for Angels". By the 1950s, Devil's food had become one of the most popular Betty Crocker cake mix flavors, and today it even has its own national holiday celebrated annually on May 19th. Devilishly delicious, this classic American dessert is made with copious amounts of dark chocolate and features a rich, velvety buttercream frosting which makes its seductive lusciousness pretty hard to resist. Devil's food cake remains an ultimate indulgence for any occasion, be it a dinner party, birthday celebration, or simply a perfect ending to a family meal.
Devil's Food Cake:
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup boiling water
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmLy packed
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2¼ cups cake flour, sifted
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
Chocolate Buttercream:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3½ cups powdered sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp. kosher salt (if using salted butter, reduce to ¼ tsp. of salt)
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4-5 Tbsp. whole milk or heavy cream
Preheat an oven to 350°F (175°C/155°C fan, Gas Mark 3), and line two round cake pans with parchment paper, then lightly spray the inside of each with oil.
For the Devil's Food Cake:
Add chocolate and cocoa to a large bowl, then pour them over with boiling water while continuously whisking until melted. Add the vanilla, then wait for a few minutes before adding buttermilk.
Next, whisk butter and oil with a mixer for about a minute, then add the brown and the granulated sugar and beat until pale and creamy, for about 2-3 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt directly into a large, separate bowl.
Add half of the flour mixture, to the chocolate mixture and whisk on low speed until incorporated.
Then add half of the chocolate mixture to the flour mixture and mix until combined.
Repeat the two previous steps until the two mixtures are completely combined, and make sure to always scrape the sides of the bowls in between each new addition.
Pour the batter into the two prepared pans, then place them in the preheated oven to bake for 40 minutes.
Once baked, place on a wire rack to cool completely.
For the Chocolate Buttercream:
First, beat butter with a mixer for two minutes, then add the powdered sugar and cocoa and blend on low speed until incorporated.
Next, add the salt, the vanilla, and milk or cream. Whisk on medium speed for about three minutes until frothy.
Frost the layers, stack them and then coat the sides and the top with buttercream.
Makes 12 servings.
Cook's Notes:
- When choosing the right type of chocolate for the cake stick to high-quality ones that are dark and unsweetened. The same goes for cocoa.
- Since the cake is deemed to be airy and light there are a few things to be mindful of. One is to cream butter with sugar first before adding other ingredients. The other is that the flour should be sifted and the separately whisked egg whites carefully folded in at the end.