Devil’s Food Party Cake | Baking with Dorie

The devil’s food party cake is essentially a layer chocolate cake. Starting to mise en place, I casually gather the ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, eggs, as well as chocolate. It’s taken me quite awhile, deep into making the cake, to realize that chocolate is not needed. Well, that gets my antenna up until the very end. That’s surprise #1.

Layer cake gets a little more complex — involving stacks of cake with frosting on top and between the layers. What makes this a party cake is the height and the rich flavor with every bite. According to Dorie, the devil cake is as dark as a devil’s heart from the deep color of cocoa.

The amount of work in making a layer cake always gives me pause, so I decide to split the work over two days. To make life easier, I choose to make a mini cake instead. To me, it’s sensible to make the batter on the first day and the frosting on the second. However, making a 5-inch cake (1/3 of the recipe) rather than a 8-inch cake does not ease the workload, as I’ve found out.

The size of a regular electric mixer is way too big and inefficient in making a mini cake. With only 38g (1/3 of a stick) of butter and 50g (less than 1/2 cup) of sugar in the mixing bowl, the paddle attachment does not reach the bottom of the bowl. I should have anticipated that! Nonetheless, I soldier on stopping the machine from time to time while scraping down the side of the bowl to get the job done. Looking back, it could have been much faster and less frustrating if I make the full recipe. Surprise #2: it’s more work to minify.

How to make the cake batter? Working with an electric mixer (use the paddle), beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 3 minutes, until the mixture is light and creamy. Add the eggs one by one, and beat for a minute after each goes in; beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low, and add the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, cocoa, baking powder) in 3 additions and the milk in 2 until the batter is smooth. Divide the batter evenly between the pans.

How to make the frosting? Sift together the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder. (This is important to do.) Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, cocoa, salt and butter on high speed until the mixture is combined. On low speed, drizzle in the milk until it’s completely incorporated. It’s best to use the frosting immediately when it’s light and fluffy.

Most unbelievable is how extraordinary tasty and chocolatey this cake is without any chocolate in it. It fools me! The devil is in the details: No chocolate at all in the batter or the frosting? I could only imagine this already wonderful cake could be even more cocoa forward with chocolate in it.

In fact, Dorie’s chocolate-chocolate birthday cake, published in the New York Times, is almost identical to the Devil’s Food Party Cake. The only exception is that the former has real chocolate in both the batter and the frosting. I couldn’t wait to find out whether the addition of chocolate makes the real difference.

Print Recipe

Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake

By Dorie Greenspan – Serves: 12-14

This is the birthday cake I’ve made for my son since he was about 11. After boxed cakes, ice-cream cakes, a cake in a Darth Vader mold (that year, the party’s theme was “May the Fours Be With You), this cake hit the spot and remains a favorite. It’s a double-layer devil’s-food cake made with cocoa and bittersweet chocolate, the same pair that makes the frosting so luscious. You can make the layers ahead of time, wrap them and freeze them for up to a month. As for the frosting, it’s best spread between the layers and over the cake when it’s just made. Once assembled, the cake can be refrigerated overnight. It cuts most easily when it’s cold but tastes best when it’s at room temperature, which is about what it will be once the candles are blown out and the slices put on plates. Ice cream alongside is unnecessary but nice. Hey, it’s a birthday!

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE
• 2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature (plus more for the pan)
• ⅔ cup (56 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (plus more for the pan)
• 2 cups (272 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1¼ cups (250 grams) sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup (240 ml.) buttermilk, well shaken
• 4 ounces (113 grams) bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• FOR THE FROSTING
• 3⅓ cups (405 grams) confectioners’ sugar
• 4½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 sticks (339 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 6 ounces (170 grams) bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 4½ tablespoons buttermilk
• Small decorations to scatter over the cake, optional

Instructions

1

Center a rack in the oven, and preheat it to 350. Butter the interiors of two 9-inch round cake pans, dust with a little cocoa powder and tap out the excess. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2

Working with an electric mixer (use the paddle, if you have one), beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, and beat for a minute after each goes in; beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low, and add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the buttermilk in 2 (start and finish with the dry, and don’t worry if the buttermilk makes the batter look slightly curdled). Mix in the melted chocolate. Divide the batter evenly between the pans.

3

Bake for 24 to 28 minutes, until a tester poked into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Transfer to racks, let rest 5 minutes and then run a blunt knife around the edges of the pans. Unmold the cakes onto the racks, and cool to room temperature.

4

Make the frosting: Sift together the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder. Using an electric mixer (with the paddle, if available), beat the sugar, cocoa, salt and butter on high speed until fluffy. On low speed, add the chocolate. When it’s almost incorporated, beat in the buttermilk. It’s best to use the frosting immediately.

5

If necessary, just before you’re ready to frost the cakes, slice a sliver off the top of each layer to create a flat surface. To assemble, place one cake layer, top up, on a serving platter, and cover with frosting. Top with the second layer, top down, jiggling it into the frosting to hold it in place. Frost the top and sides of the cake — go sleek or swirly. If you’re using decorations, scatter them over the cake. Chill for at least 1 hour (or for up to 1 day); bring to room temperature before serving.

Notes

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019312-chocolate-chocolate-birthday-cake