Tall, Dark and Handsome - Devil's Food Cake

My earliest memory of Devil's Food Cake is that from a blue box - Pilsbury's Devil's Food Cake Mix - to be precise. And the frosting that came in the plastic tub - only half of which was used to frost the cake.  The other half was unknowingly shared among four siblings, during secret refrigerator raids.

I had to move on from cake mixes though.  I could not justify baking from a box in the same kitchen as my mother - who spent hours planning, baking and decorating our birthday cakes and desserts.  Mind you, cake mixes are great - but baking from scratch is simple too - and it helps to know what ACTUALLY goes into making a cake! 

So, in my efforts to reconstitute the contents of a blue box and a plastic tub, I began my quest for a tall, dark and handsome cake - David Lebovitz's Devil's Food Cake.  

The original recipe calls for 2 cakes to be baked in 9"x 2" sandwich tins. I used one 8" inch tin instead. As a result, baking time went from 25 mins to 1h 20 mins! I had anticipated it to be more than 25 mins but still be within the duration of my son's afternoon nap. Definitely went way beyond that!

This recipe demands a LOT of patience - bringing all the ingredients to room temperature, allowing the frosting to set, cooling the cake completely before frosting it...

I decided to stick to a simple single layer cake as I was a little too apprehensive about slicing the cake crosswise to make layers.  I hope to find the confidence to do that some day!

     

For the cake, I omitted the salt as I chose to go with the locally available Amul butter, which is salted.  I used the same butter for the frosting, which gave the frosting a mild salty taste - it helps cut through the sweetness of the rest of the cake.  My husband wasn't a huge fan of the saltiness - but I quite enjoyed it as did my 20 month old son (does that count?)  For universal appeal, I suggest using unsalted butter.

For the frosting, I melted the chocolate in water as opposed to cream - but I am sure cream would lend  a richer feel to the cake - perhaps closer to what one gets from the plastic tub! :)

As chocolate is the main component of this cake, I suggest going for the best cocoa powder and chocolate available.   Even if you achieve the tall, dark and handsome look - taste does matter too!

Devil's Food Cake

David Lebovitz

For the cake:

9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

113 g butter, at room temperature

1½ cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup strong coffee

½ cup whole milk

For the ganache frosting:

300 g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

½ cup water

¾ cup unsalted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. Butter two 9″ x 2″ cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.

3. Sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.

4. Using an electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.

5. Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.

6. Divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

7.  Release the cakes from the pan.  Spread a good amount of icing over the one cake.  Top with the second cake and spread the frosting to cover the entire cake.  

Frosting

Melt the chopped chocolate with the water (or cream) in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk them into the chocolate until completely melted and the ganache is smooth and glossy. Cool at room temperature, till it achieves a spreadable consistency.