Devil's Food Cake with Fudge Frosting 2
Submitted by sharRiz
From-scratch devil’s food cake with boiling water for intense chocolate depth, topped with a fudge frosting made from melted semi-sweet chocolate and butter.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
40 minCOOK
40 minREADY
1 hrsThis devil’s food cake gets its dark, intensely chocolate flavor from a half cup of cocoa powder bloomed with boiling water. That hot water opens up the cocoa’s full flavor, producing a cake that’s deeper and more complex than recipes that just dump cocoa in with the dry ingredients.
Dusting the greased pans with cocoa instead of flour is a small detail that matters. Flour leaves pale, dusty patches on a chocolate cake. Cocoa gives the outside a seamless dark brown finish that looks as rich as the cake tastes.
The alternating method of adding dry ingredients and boiling water is key to the texture. Start and end with the dry ingredients, and beat well after each addition. This builds just enough gluten structure for a tender crumb while the baking soda reacts with the cocoa’s acidity to create that characteristic devil’s food rise.
The fudge frosting is simple but requires a feel for consistency. Creamed butter, powdered sugar, melted semi-sweet chocolate, and just enough cream to make it spreadable. Too much cream and it slides off the cake. Too little and you’re tearing the crumb trying to spread it.
Pro Tips
- Use cake flour, not all-purpose. The lower protein content is what gives devil’s food cake its soft, velvety texture.
- Cool completely before frosting. Even slightly warm layers will melt the fudge frosting into a runny mess.
- Loosen edges with a spatula before inverting. Forcing the layers out breaks their delicate structure.
- Swirl the frosting with an offset spatula for those classic peaks and valleys.
Variations
- Mocha version: Replace the boiling water with hot brewed coffee. It intensifies the chocolate without tasting like coffee.
- Cream cheese frosting swap: Use chocolate cream cheese frosting for a tangier, less sweet finish.
Ingredients
Directions
PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 350℉ (180℃).
Grease two 8-inch layer cake pans well, then dust then generously with cocoa.
(This gives the cake layers a rich brown finish).
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt onto a piece of waxed paper and set it aside.
Cream the butter until it is fluffy, add the sugar and vanilla, and continue beating until the batter is silvery and light.
Beat the eggs in one by one, then add the sifted dry ingredients, alternately with the boiling water, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and beating well after each addition.
Divide the batter equally between the two pans, smoothing the tops.
Bake the layers uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the layers feel spongy to the touch and begin to pull away from the sides of the pans.
Cool the layers upright in their pans on wire racks for 10 minutes, then carefully loosen them around the edges with a spatula and turn them onto wire racks.
Cool them completely.
FOR THE FROSTING: Cream the butter until it is light, then add the confectioners’ sugar gradually, beating all the while.
Beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla, then add just enough cream to make the frosting a good consistency for spreading.
Sandwich the two cake layers together with frosting, then frost the top and sides of the cake.
Swirl the frosting into peaks and valleys.
Makes about 8 servings.
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