Devil's Food Cake

Today I was going to attempt to make macaron's but then I forgot that you needed to age the egg whites to let them dry out a bit beforehand, which I hadn't prepared for.
Sooooo instead I was going to make this Brooklyn Blackout cake, but thought it was going to be a lot of faff that I couldn't be bothered with, so I opted to make Dorie Greenspan's Devil's Food Cake instead as I haven't had it for years!


When we used to make it as children we would use the recipe from this massive 80's Good Housekeeping cook book we have had for years, which used a completely different recipe for the frosting which was much sweeter and left a kind of crust over it, which if I'm honest I love (I'm one of those people that loves the skin on rice pudding).
The icing for this cake is good, but not as sweet as I remember for this kind of cake, plus it has a bit of a tang to it from the vanilla essence. Be aware the quantities for the icing make more than you will need unless you have layers of icing that are thicker than the cake itself!!
The chocolate cake however is definitely a keeper! I will be adapting and using this recipe for many other cake ideas.


Devil's Food Cake


Ingredients


For the cake:
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 tspn bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/4 tspn salt
3 eggs
1 tspn vanilla extract (I used vanilla pod seeds of 1 pod)
2oz dark chocolate melted and cooled
1/2 cup buttermilk or whole milk
4oz dark chocolate chopped or chocolate chips
1/2 cup boiled water


For the Frosting:
4 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water
3/4 tspn cream of tartar
1 tspn vanilla essence


Method


1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line 2 baking tins.
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and bicarb in a bowl. In another bowl beat the butter until soft, then add the sugars and beat until well mixed, light and fluffy.
3. Once the butter/sugar mix is light and fluffy add the eggs one at a time mixing well between. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Add the melted chocolate to the butter/sugar/egg mix.
5. When it is fully incorporated add the dry ingredients in batches, alternating between with the buttermilk. Once all the dry ingredients and milk are mixed in the batter will seem quite thick, add the boiled water which will thin the consistency of the mixture considerably (don't worry this is ok), then add the chopped chocolate.
6. Transfer the cake mix to the lined tins and bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops are soft and springy and a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
7. For the frosting, put the egg whites into a mixing bowl. In a pan put the sugar, water and cream of tartar and mix. Bring the mixture to a boil over a medium heat.
8. Allow the sugar syrup to boil upto 240F/115C on a sugar thermometer. While the sugar is boiling start whisking the egg whites.
9. When the syrup is about 235F/112C/softball stage turn the mixer on the egg whites to medium speed and start to pour the syrup slowly down the sides of the bowl to avoid splattering and burns. Add the vanilla extract and continue to to whisk the meringue mix until it becomes light and fluffy and the bowl has cooled down completely.
10. To assemble the cake, cut the tops of both cakes and leave on the side to make into a crumble. With a spatula cover the bottom layer of the cake with a generous serving of the icing. Top with the second layer of cake, cut side down, then ice the top and sides of the cake. Don't worry about it being messy as it will be covered with the cake crumbs. Gently press the crumbs into the icing and serve!