Aunt Elsas Devils Food Cake Recipes

MOIST DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange two racks in center of oven. Butter three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment. Dust bottoms and sides of pans with cocoa powder; tap out any excess. Sift cocoa into a medium bowl, and whisk in boiling water. Set aside to cool.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on low speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides twice. Beat in vanilla. Drizzle in eggs, a little at a time, beating between each addition until the batter is no longer slick, scraping down the sides twice.
• In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk milk into reserved cocoa mixture. With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour and cocoa mixtures to the batter, a little of each at a time, starting and ending with flour mixture.
• Divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center of each layer comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes, rotating the pans for even baking. Transfer layers to wire racks; let cool, 15 minutes. Turn out cakes, and return to racks, tops up, until completely cool.
• Remove parchment from bottoms of cakes. Reserve the prettiest layer for the top. Place one cake layer on a serving platter; spread 1 1/2 cups chocolate frosting over the top. Add the second cake layer, and spread with another 1 1/2 cups frosting. Top with third cake layer. Cover outside of cake with the remaining 3 cups frosting. Serve.

THE ULTIMATE DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment rounds; butter parchment. Stir together boiling water, cocoa, and chocolate in a bowl. Let cool 10 minutes. Whisk together flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in another bowl.
• In a mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar on medium-high until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in vanilla, then chocolate mixture. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture in two additions, alternating with sour cream, until just combined.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smoothing tops with an offset spatula. Bake until a tester inserted in centers comes out with moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack 20 minutes. Turn out onto rack, top-sides up; let cool completely. With a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes so they're level.
• Line the edges of a cake stand or plate with strips of parchment. Place one cake layer on stand, trimmed-side up, and spread 1 1/2 cups buttercream evenly over top. Top with remaining cake layer, trimmed-side down.
• Spread a thin layer of buttercream over top and sides. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes (this ensures a crumb-free finish). Spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides. Cake can be stored in refrigerator up to 1 day; bring to room temperature before serving.

ABSOLUTELY DIVINE DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

Steps:

• Cake:.
• Preheat oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease bottom and sides of 2 (9 x 1 1/2" or 9 x 2") round layer-cake pans. Dust with flour and shake out excess. Melt chocolate in double boiler over simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly. Drain beet juice into a small bowl. Place beets on a cutting board and chop into very small pieces. Add to beet juice and set aside.
• Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until very fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping sides occasionally. Reduce speed to low and beat in melted chocolate.
• Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium-size bowl. With mixer on low speed, alternately beat flour in fourths and buttermilk in thirds into chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add beets and juice and mix on medium speed until blended, about 1 minute. The batter will be thin and you will see pieces of beets.
• Divide the batter equally between the 2 prepared pans. Bake in the 350 degrees oven for 30 - 35 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean and top of cake springs back when lightly pressed with fingertips. DO NOT over bake or cake will be dry. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes and then invert onto racks.
• NOTE: If desired, cake layers may be wrapped in foil and kept at room temperature overnight, or they may be frozen. Defrost wrapped cake at room temperature before frosting.
• Frosting:.
• Heat cream in a medium-size saucepan just until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate and vanilla, stirring until mixture is smooth and chocolate is melted. Transfer mixture into a plastic or glass bowl (metal causes the sides to get too cold and set up too quickly.) Refrigerate, stirring every 10 minutes until mixture is as thick as pudding, about 50 - 60 minutes. At this point the frosting will begin to set up very quickly. Leave in refrigerator and stir every 5 minutes until frosting is a thick as fudge, about 15 more minutes. Alternatively, the frosting may be placed over ice water and stirred constantly until spreading consistency. If it begins to get too thick, immediately remove it from the water.
• To assemble the cake, (make sure cake has cooled and has reached room temperature) place one cake layer top-side down on serving platter. Spread with a third of the frosting and top with second layer, bottom-side up. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides. Let stand at room temperature for frosting to set.
• NOTE: The frosted cake may be held at room temperature, uncovered, overnight or refrigerated up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

DECADENT DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

Steps:

• Cake:
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch cake pans with circles of was paper and then grease the pans with cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, pour the boiling water over the 6 oz. of semisweet chocolate. Set aside for a few minutes. Once the chocolate is thoroughly melted, add the cocoa and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and half of the chocolate mixture. Beat on low speed to combine, and then on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the remaining chocolate mixture and beat till combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pans for 20 minutes before removing (or they will fall apart). Invert the cakes onto wire racks to cool completely before assembling and frosting.
• Frosting:
• In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar and cocoa. Beat 1/3 of the sugar-cocoa mixture into the butter. Mix in the vanilla. Add the rest of the sugar-cocoa mixture alternately with the milk and beat until frosting is smooth. Assemble the cake.

AUNT ELSA'S DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

Steps:

• In the top of a double boiler or in a stainless-steel mixing bowl set over a pan of simmering water so that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water, melt the chocolate. Set aside to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch cake pans.
• In a large bowl, sift the flour with the baking soda and salt; set aside.
• In the work bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, place the butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla and beat on high speed until lightened in color, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally.
• Reduce the speed to low and beat in the chocolate. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts alternately with the buttermilk in 2 parts, starting and ending with the flour. Beat in the water until smooth.
• Pour into the prepared pans. Bake until the cake pulls away from the sides and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Let the cake layers cool in the pans on wire racks for 5 minutes. Run a thin knife around the outside and turn out onto racks. Peel off the paper. Flip them over to completely cool right-side up on the racks. If not assembling right away, cover the layers in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for 1 day.
• Meanwhile, prepare the frosting: In the top of a double boiler or in a stainless-steel mixing bowl set over a pan of simmering water so that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water, melt the chocolate. Set aside to cool.
• In the work bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, place the cooled, melted chocolate, the sugar, and the hot water. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add the egg, butter, and vanilla. Continue beating until the frosting is thick and fluffy and mounds beautifully on a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes.
• When ready to fill and frost the cake, hold a serrated knife horizontally and use a gentle sawing motion to shave the domed top off each layer. Fill and frost the cake, using a crumb coat (page 202) if you have time.
• Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
• If the percentages you sometimes see on bars of chocolate seem baffling, just know this: They refer to the percentage of cocoa solids and cocoa butter in the chocolate. This varies from brand to brand, but generally semisweet chocolate is about 50 percent cocoa, and bittersweet is 60 to 70 percent cocoa. Always use a good-quality chocolate in chocolate desserts-it will usually determine how good your end result is!