Devilish Cake

Devilish Cake
Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 69.

Ah, Devils Food Cake! I love it. In appearance, the cake is so thin that it reminded me of a torte. I suppose if you'd like thicker layers, you could use 8" pans but the recipe calls for 9" so that is what I used.  The cake is dense in texture and the icing is delicious. For me, this doesn't beat the Country Fair cake but it comes close!

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process)
3/4 cup boiling water
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sour cream 
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour 


Adjust rack to center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round layer cake pans. Dust them with flour and tap out excess and set aside.

In a bowl, mix the cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Set aside

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter for 3 minutes. Add vanilla, salt, sugar and beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In another small bowl, stir the baking soda into the sour cream.

On low speed add the flour to the butter mixture in three additions alternating with the sour cream in two additions, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating only until smooth after each addition.

Add the cocoa and beat until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans, tap them slightly to get the air bubbles out and rotate slightly to level the tops.

Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the layers barely begin to come away from the sides of the pan (this only took 20 minutes in my oven).  Cool in the pans for 15 minutes. Cover each layer with a rack and invert, remove pans, cover with another rack and invert again, leaving the layers right side up on the racks to cool. Place four strips of wax paper around the outer edges of a cake plate. Place one layer upside down on the plate. You are now ready to ice the cake.

CHOCOLATE ICING
4 ounces (squares) unsweetened chocolate
2 TBS butter
1/2 cup minus 1 TBS milk
1 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Place chocolate in a double broiler over hot water on moderate heat. Add the butter, milk, and sugar, and stir until the butter is melted. Cook, stirring for 3 minutes.

Beat the egg in a small bowl only to mix. Very gradually stir a few spoonfuls at a time of the hot chocolate mixture into the egg. Stir constantly until you have added about one-third of the chocolate. Then stir the egg into the remaining hot chocolate. Add the vanilla and salt.



Transfer the mixture to a small bowl that will sit in a larger bowl filled halfway with ice and water.  Beat at high speed, scraping the bowl constantly with a rubber spatula for 1-2 minutes until mixture thickens slightly, do not let it harden.

Pour about one-third of the icing over the bottom layer and spread it smoothly. It will be a very thin layer.

Cover with the second layer of cake, placing it right side up so that both bottoms will meet in the center. Pour the remaining icing over the top, spreading it over the top and sides.


Remove the wax paper strips but slowly pulling each one toward a narrow end.