Your Best Devil's Food Cake Recipe (w/ vanilla icing) neeed

[Sir Gawain]

I need to make a classic devil's food cake with white icing. It must be absolutely classic, but of course I want to make it the very SUBSTANCE, the very DEFINITION, the very ESSNCE, the heart&soul of devil's-food-cakeness-with-white-icingness, to paraphrase Nigella Lawson. I have never made such a thing, and that's where you, the chowhounds, come in.

Before you send me to Epicurious, I want to mention that you should (please) refer me only to recipes that YOU PERSONALLY have tried.

I own:

The Joy of Cooking, versions ca. 1990 (still with the Eastern European baked goods) and the All-New (with samosas)
The Fannie Farmer cookbook
The Cake Bible
The Simple Art of Perfect Baking (Flo Braker)
and a computer capable of accessing many food web sites.

Again, I have never made a devil's food cake but have eaten it. Not interested in "sexy", "updated" versions as they are sure to be sneered at by the recipient. It needs to be CLASSIC. And yes I want to make it myself, although the one I got from Margaret Palca in Red Hook (Bklyn) last year wasn't too shabby.

THANK YOU!

[Caitlin McGrath]

I've always liked the Devil's Food Cake Cockaigne (sp?) from the older Joy, though I honestly haven't baked it in quite a long time.

[Sir Gawain]

Thanks, I've always been intrigues by all those "cockaigne" recipes :D

Since my post the recipient has corrected the secifications as "traditional chocolate cake with white icing", not a devil's food cake... I was thinking of a chocolate genoise from Flo Braker, it sounds good. But I'll check out the Joy.

[cuccubear]

I have made the Devil’s Food Cake recipe from JOC (1975) twice now and both times it has fallen. The second time I thought “Maybe it’s supposed to look like this,” but when I turned it out of the pan the whole thing fell apart. It’s delicious, but no longer a cake, more like a slag heap.

Any idea what I’m doing wrong?

[kattyeyes]

My go-to chocolate cake is Hershey's Deep Dark Chocolate Cake--the one with a cup of boiling water in it. I once even made it without the eggs by accident (I was cleaning up the counter, the cake was in the oven and, OOPS, there sat the eggs on the counter). EVEN WITHOUT THE EGGS, it still tasted good. It was on the flatter side, but still tasty. Anyway, a delicious, hard-to-ruin cake. I love it with whipped cream OR vanilla buttercream frosting (not the one listed in the recipe below):

http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recip...

It is truly deep, dark chocolate, tried and true and tasty as can be!

[Caitlin McGrath]

Have you ever tried the Hershey's Black Magic cake, kattyeyes? It's the same recipe as the Deep Dark Chocolate, except instead of milk and boiling water, it calls for buttermilk and coffee. I'd be curious how the two compare, tastewise. I think adding coffee to chocolate recipes deepens the chocolate flavor (while not necessarily making them taste of "mocha"). And I like how buttermilk tenderizes baked goods. I keep Saco buttermilk powder on hand for baking.

[kattyeyes]

I have not, but would like to give it a try. The coffee addition makes me think of the Irish Car Bomb Cake we made this past winter (duplicates the ingredients in the shot of the same name). That is a killer cake. Have you tried it? That's a bakeoff if ever there was one: Deep, Dark vs. Black Magic vs. Irish Car Bomb. Please post back if you make Black Magic first (or I will do the same). Thanks for the suggestion!

[Caitlin McGrath]

Actually, I'm opposite to you in experienc via-a-vis Deep Dark vs. Black Magic. I was unfamiliar with Deep Dark, and upon looking at the recipe, saw that the only difference from Black Magic is in the liquid used. I have not had or made ICB cake, but alcohol + chocolate = a good cake, generally speaking.

[cuccubear]

Well, katty, I'm gonna have to give that a try because I'm not having any luck with this other recipe.

[kattyeyes]

Oh, please do! I'm sending good chocolate vibes your way. I know it'll work out great and you'll love it! :) Let us know.

[cuccubear]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll be sure to check back in!

[cuccubear]

Your vibes were received, and I tried the recipe yesterday morning. Except for having shallow cake pans the cake was terrific! Delicious and moist.

I didn’t have a sheet pan beneath the two 9” cake pans, and one spilled over and ran down into the space beneath the oven floor where the flame is. So for a few minutes I had glowing embers of chocolate cake smoking up the kitchen.

Also did some troubleshooting with my mother about my “technique” and I think she’s straightened me out. She suggests 1) Definitely use a mixer, 2) _Really_ grease and flour the pans, and 3) Don’t rush the cooling. (So no more shortcuts for cuccu. As stubborn and impatient a Taurus as I am, I’ll just have to take it slow!)

[kattyeyes]

<<So for a few minutes I had glowing embers of chocolate cake smoking up the kitchen.>> OOOOOOPS! I'm glad the recipe turned out well after all. If it makes you feel any better, I once set my oven on fire making strudel and have yet to revisit that recipe. ;) Your mom is a wise woman. You'll have to do what everyone told Jim on "Taxi" when he asked, "What does a yellow light mean?" :) Think of this the next time you bake. God, this is one of my all-time favorite clips. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvn-tB...

[cuccubear]

I'll ... just ... have ... to ... take ... it ... slow ...

got it ;-)

[kattyeyes]

I must share: Hershey's Deep, Dark makes a FANTASTIC, moist Irish Car Bomb Cake. The only critical substitution is Guinness to replace the boiling water. Well, that and the delicious boozy frosting. Pics and recipe here:
http://kattyskitchen.wordpress.com/20...

Happy St. Pat's!

P.S. I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa for the first time. I like it! Note: they now call their Deep, Dark cake "Special Dark" but it's the same recipe...and is on the Special Dark can.

[blue room]

I use this from a clipped from a newspaper at least 28 years ago:

1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp salt

2 eggs
1 cup double strength coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix cocoa with sugar, then mix in all other dry ingredients well. Mix all wet ingredients, add to dry. Mix all together, beat with electric mixer for 2 minutes, bake in prepared pan. (I use 13' by 9') 35 minutes 350F. It's how I think chocolate cake is supposed to be.

[Caitlin McGrath]

blue room, this recipe is in fact the Hershey's Black Magic Cake I referenced in my post above (recipe is or was on Hershey's cocoa tin). See http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recip...

[blue room]

Aha, it certainly is in fact-- exact match! I was in Sacramento CA at the time so it was likely clipped from the Sacramento Bee newspaper. I remember it called for cherry pie filling between layers, and the recipe had a fancy name -- something something cherry something -- so they had altered it enough to not credit Hershey's ?
Anyway, very good flavor. It is Always DH's birthday cake--he likes it with broiled almond-coconut topping. And I remember at a potluck a coworker saying "I'd forgotten how good chocolate cake could be." You have a sharp eye, Caitlin.

[Caitlin McGrath]

I recently recommended this recipe to a friend who wants to make a great chocolate b-day cake for her daughter, but is nervous about it because she's never made one from scratch before. Easy, plus good chocolate flavor and texture.