Hell Boy’s Devils Food Cake 🎂

This is one sinful cake in a very heavenly way. There are cake recipes, and then there are cake recipes.

The apartment where I stay when I am in the city, have the best cooks in town. (I must read the property deed clause again to see if that was a pre-requisite).

I had kept the day free from cooking, so I could work on my website. That’s when I got a call from a friend asking if I could make a birthday cake at short notice (as a common baker friend in the apartment couldn’t deliver at the last moment). I felt as close to sharing a feeling with “Wonder Woman” being beckoned to salvage a situation.

This devilishly delicious cake is an American classic. To qualify as a Devil’s Food Cake the cake should be very darkish with a reddish tinge, rich in chocolate taste but still have a delicate moist texture. Food science tell us elements in the cocoa are red in the presence of alkaline (baking soda in this case, that gives the mahogany colour).

This is a recipe for all occasions, a very moist, velvety texture with an intense chocolate experience. Enjoy ❤

Ingredients :

Cocoa – 1/2 cup

All purpose flour – 1 1/2 cup

Baking soda – 3/4 tsp

Baking powder – 1/2 tsp

Salt – 1/4 tsp

Boiling water – 1 cup

Unsweetened chocolate – 115 gms

Instant coffee powder – 1 tsp

Unsalted butter – 10 tbsps (plus some more for greasing)

Light brown Sugar – 1 1/2 cups

Eggs – 3

Plain Yoghurt – 1/2 cup

Pure Vanilla extract – 2 tsp

Method

Preheat oven to 160 C

1. Grease a 12 inch round pan or three 8 inch round pans and dust with cocoa powder.

2. Sieve flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together and keep aside.

3. In a micro-waveable bowl soften (not melt) chocolate for 1 minute, then add cocoa, coffee powder and boiling water. Stir till smooth.

4. Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy for 5 mins. Beat in the eggs one at a time until combined. Beat in yoghurt and vanilla until well incorporated.

5. If the mix looks like it curdled a bit, don’t worry that’s only a momentary concern. Reduce speed to low and add flour in 3 additions alternatively with the chocolate mix, ending with the flour. Scrape down bowl as needed with a spatula.

6. Divide batter evenly among prepared pans or a 12 inch round pan. Smooth tops with spatula. Gently tap pans to release air bubbles.

Bake for 30 to 35 mins until a tooth pick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool before un-moulding it and frosting the cake.

Vanilla butter cream frosting (for a 12 inch cake )

Ingredients:

Unsalted softened butter – 250 gms

Sieved Confectioners sugar – 500 gms

Pure Vanilla extract – 2 tsps

Milk – if needed to adjust consistency

Any Natural food colour – few drops (I used black colour to tint the butter cream grey)

Method

Stir in all the ingredients together except the milk . Adjust the consistency according to humidity levels. (More the humidity, less the need to add any liquid content)

Add a pinch of love ❤ :

Use Dutch processed Cocoa and dark brown muscavado sugar in the cake recipe to reach chocolate heaven.

xoxo,

Sareeka ❤