Devil's Food Cake with Fudge Frosting
Submitted by Bernice
Classic devil’s food cake with deep chocolate flavor and silky fudge frosting. Two-layer cake with tender, moist crumb from boiling water and rich cocoa.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
35 minREADY
55 minThis is the chocolate layer cake that started it all.
Deep, dark, and devilishly rich, with a tender crumb that comes from an unusual ingredient: boiling water whisked right into the batter. It sounds weird, but that hot water blooms the cocoa and creates an incredibly moist texture that stays soft for days. The fudge frosting is just as classic, with melted unsweetened chocolate and butter beaten into powdered sugar until it’s silky and spreadable.
Dust the pans with cocoa instead of flour to give the cake layers a gorgeous dark finish with no white dusty spots. Swirl the frosting into dramatic peaks and valleys for that vintage bakery look.
Chef Tips
- Use cake flour if you can find it. The lower protein content makes for a more tender, delicate crumb
- Add the boiling water last and mix just until combined. Overmixing at this stage can make the cake tough
- Cool the layers completely before frosting. Even slightly warm cake will melt the frosting and create a mess
- Let the melted chocolate cool for a few minutes before adding to the frosting so it doesn’t melt the butter
- Use an offset spatula for frosting. It gives you better control for swirls and smooth sides
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Grease 2 8 inch layer cake pans well, then dust them 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.
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.
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