What Is Cake mix, devils food and How Can I Use It?

If cake mix, devils food has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 56 recipes to try it in.

Key Points

Devils food is the darkest boxed chocolate mix, with extra cocoa and soda for a deep, tangy crumb.
Deepen with coffee or buttermilk; it also makes fudgy cake-mix cookies and rich poke cakes.
Sub in plain chocolate mix plus cocoa and a pinch of baking soda; store sealed and dry.

What is cake mix, devils food?

Devils food cake mix is a boxed chocolate cake mix on the dark end of the scale, made with more cocoa and often a little baking soda that pushes the crumb reddish-brown and gives it a deeper, slightly tangy chocolate flavor. It is the darkest of the standard chocolate boxes.

If a recipe wants a cake that reads as serious chocolate rather than sweet milk-chocolate, this is the mix it reaches for.

Ways to Use It

The dark crumb is the whole appeal. Reach for devils food anywhere chocolate should be the loudest note.

Coconut-Chocolate Poke Cake bakes the cake, pokes holes across the top, then floods it with caramel and condensed milk that sink into the dark sponge.

It takes to liquor and fruit cleanly. Chocolate Brandy Cake leans on the mix plus brandy and pudding, while Quick Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake and Chocolate Cherry Cake fold ripe fruit straight into the batter for a moist bundt.

Cake mix cookies are the other workhorse use. Double Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies stir the dry mix with oil and eggs, then fold in chips for a fudgy crackle-top cookie, and Oreo Cookies use the dark crumb to mimic the candy.

Doctoring and Pairing

For the general upgrades, an extra egg, a box of pudding, milk for water, see the main cake mix page. With devils food the dark color is already there, so doctoring is about keeping it moist and pushing depth.

A spoonful of strong coffee or espresso powder deepens the cocoa, and sour cream or buttermilk in place of some water plays into the tangy side of the flavor.

The usual slip is overbaking. The dark crumb hides doneness, so it can dry out before it looks done; pull it at a few moist crumbs on the toothpick.

Substitutes

A regular chocolate cake mix is the easiest swap and bakes lighter and sweeter; add a tablespoon of cocoa and a pinch of baking soda to nudge it darker. A dark or "fudge" chocolate mix is closest of all.

From scratch you are after a Dutch-process cocoa cake with baking soda, which is what gives devils food its reddish tint and mellow, less acidic chocolate taste.

Buying and Storage

Devils food sits next to plain chocolate and "dark chocolate fudge" on the shelf, so read the box to be sure which you grabbed. Most run 15 to 16 ounces (about 430 to 460 g).

Keep unopened mix in a cool, dry pantry and bake by the date stamped on the box. Once opened, seal it airtight against humidity. A mix that has clumped hard or smells stale has usually lost its lift and will bake flat.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 oz (28g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 110Calories from Fat 23

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 2.6g 4%

Saturated Fat 0.5g 3%

Trans Fat ~

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 250mg 10%

Total Carbohydrate 22.0g 7%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 12.9

Protein 1.3g

Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 4% • Iron 5%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

recipeland.com/nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find cake mix, devils food: Cake mix, devils food is usually found in the baking supplies section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Cake mix, devils food is a member of the Baked Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese: 蛋糕粉，鬼子的食物
British (UK) term: Cake mix, devils food
en français: le mélange à gâteau, diables alimentaire
en español: mezcla para pastel, los diablos del alimento

How much does cake mix, devils food weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 ounce	28 grams
1 package (18.25 oz)	517 grams

Baked Products

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Recipes using cake mix, devils food

There are 56 recipes that contain this ingredient.

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