Devil's Food Layer Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Submitted by swimworm
Devil’s food cake bakes a deep cocoa layer cake with a separated-egg method for extra lift, then tops it with classic boiled chocolate fudge frosting. A tall, old-fashioned chocolate showstopper.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
30 minREADY
70 minThis devil’s food cake earns its name with a serious cocoa hit and a separated-egg technique that gives the layers their dramatic rise. Yolks beat into the creamed butter for richness, while the whites get whipped to stiff peaks with the rest of the sugar and folded in last. That meringue fold is what gives devil’s food its characteristic light-but-dense texture, lighter than a fudge cake but denser than a sponge.
Cooking the cocoa with a small amount of sugar and water before adding to the batter is the trick that pulls deeper chocolate flavor out of dutch-process cocoa. The brief heat blooms the cocoa, releasing flavor compounds that stay locked up in dry powder.
The frosting is an old-school boiled fudge frosting, the kind that requires actual technique. Sugar, milk, butter, and chocolate boil hard for one minute, then cool completely before being beaten until thick. Done right, it sets up like satin between the layers and gets a soft sheen on top.
Pro Tips
- Make sure the cocoa-water-sugar paste cools before mixing into the creamed butter. Hot paste melts the butter and breaks the emulsion.
- Beat the egg whites in a clean grease-free bowl. Even a trace of yolk in the whites prevents stiff peaks.
- Cool the boiled frosting completely before beating. Hot frosting won’t thicken and the sugar will recrystallize grainy.
- Frost the cake on the day you serve it. Boiled frosting firms up overnight and loses its glossy finish.
Variations
- Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to the cocoa-water mixture to deepen the chocolate without adding coffee flavor.
- Stir a quarter cup of sour cream into the batter for extra moisture and tang (reduce milk by 2 tablespoons).
- Skip the boiled frosting and use a chocolate ganache for an easier modern finish.
Ingredients
Directions
To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Buter and lightly flour two 8 inch round cake pans.
Place the cocoa, 3 tablespoons of sugar and the water in a small pan and cook over low heat until smooth and blended.
Remove from the heat and stir in the milk; set aside.
Cream the butter, add the vanilla and ½ cup of sugar and beat until light.
Beat in the yolks and gradually add the cocoa mixture.
Mix well.
Mix the flour, cream of tartar, salt and baking soda, add to the first mixture and blend until just smooth.
Beat the egg whites until foamy.
Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat until the whites are stiff but not dry.
Fold the whites into the batter.
Spread the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before turning out onto wire racks.
To make the Frosting:
Stir together all the ingredients except the vanilla.
Bring to a rolling boil and cook, stirring vigorously for 1 minute.
Let cool completely.
Add the vanilla and beat until thick.
Frost the cake.
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