Devil’s Food Cake

Any self-proclaimed chocolate fanatic most likely requests a devil’s food cake on their birthday every year. Indulgent, moist and fluffy, a sophisticated chocolate cake like this is hard to resist. Secret ingredients like freshly brewed coffee, sour cream, Dutch-processed cocoa and a whole lot of baking soda intensify the chocolate flavor, making this the best devil’s food cake recipe ever.

What is devil’s food cake?

Devil’s food cake is a layered cake that is deeply rich and chocolaty with a very dark hue. Because of its sinfully decadent flavor, devil’s food cake became the recipe’s descriptor. Equally so, devil’s food chocolate cake was invented in the wake of the popular angel food cake—its contrast in every attribute.

Devil’s food cake is believed to have originated in the early 1900s, with many citing the 1902 cookbook Mrs. Rorer’s New Cook Book as the cake’s introduction to the world.

Ingredients for Devil’s Food Cake

• Butter and oil: Both softened butter and canola oil are used in this cake. Butter adds flavor and canola oil maintains lasting moisture for a soft and delicious cake.
• Sugars: A cup of brown sugar and a cup of white sugar work together to sweeten the cake, crisp the edges, and keep the crumb moist and delicate.
• Eggs: For a seamless cake batter, bring your eggs to room temperature by taking them out of the fridge 30 minutes before getting started. You can take the stick of butter out of the fridge while you’re at it too!
• Vanilla: Delicate vanilla extract produces a floral sweetness in the cake that makes the chocolate sing.
• Sour cream: Tangy sour cream breaks up the bitter and rich flavors while adding even more moisture to the cake.
• All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour imparts a delicate, tender crumb that’s still sturdy enough to hold its shape with another cake layer stacked on top.
• Cocoa powder: Seek out Dutch-processed cocoa, not regular cocoa powder, as Dutch-processed will impart a darker color (an important characteristic for devil’s food cake) and a smoother chocolate flavor.
• Leavening agents: If you’re an avid baker, you might have noticed that there’s a lot of baking powder and baking soda in this recipe (good eye!). Devil’s food cake has taller and fluffier cake layers than a regular chocolate cake, plus the extra baking soda raises the pH, resulting in a darker color.
• Coffee: Instant espresso powder is the secret ingredient to better chocolate desserts. We decided to incorporate this secret into our devil’s food cake recipe through freshly brewed coffee so there could be more moisture as well.
• Frosting: No devil’s food cake is complete without rich chocolate buttercream. You’ll need butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt, milk, and more Dutch-processed cocoa and vanilla extract.

Directions

Step 1: Prep the pans

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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

Step 2: Make the batter

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In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to cream the butter, oil, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, five to seven minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and sour cream.

In another bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, Dutch-processed cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the coffee, beating well after each addition.

Step 3: Bake the cake layers

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Pour the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Pop the pans in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool the cake layers in their pans for 10 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans and onto wire racks to cool completely to room temperature.

Step 4: Whip up the frosting

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the softened butter until it’s creamy. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar and Dutch-processed cocoa until it’s smooth. Add the vanilla and salt, then add the whole milk. Beat the mixture until it’s a light and fluffy frosting, about five minutes.

Step 5: Assemble the cake

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Using a mini offset spatula, a butter knife or the back of a spoon, spread the buttercream on top of one of the cake layers. Place the second cake layer on top, and spread the rest of the buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Serve and enjoy!

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Recipe Variations

• Add a filling: A delicious cake filling can break up the chocolaty-ness while complementing the flavors. Pipe a ring of frosting on the top edge of the first cake layer to help hold in the filling, then spread your filling of choice inside. Strawberry or raspberry jam, fresh fruit or Nutella would all be lovely here.
• Choose a different frosting: If desired, omit the chocolate frosting for another frosting recipe like peanut butter frosting, simple vanilla buttercream, blackberry buttercream or homemade whipped cream.

How to Store Devil’s Food Cake

When storing leftover devil’s food chocolate cake, you can either store the cake intact or cut it into slices and store them in airtight containers. To store the devil’s food cake intact, place pieces of storage wrap on any cuts made into the cake to prevent the cake from drying out. Then, place the cake, covered with a cake dome, in the fridge for up to four days.

To store slices of the cake, carefully lay the slices in an airtight container with pieces of parchment in between to prevent sticking. Close the lid(s) on the container(s) and store the cake in the fridge for up to four days.

Can you freeze devil’s food cake?

Yes, you can freeze cake. To freeze the whole cake, pop the cake into the freezer, uncovered, for one hour. Take the cake out of the freezer, wrap it in a few layers of storage wrap, then stash the cake in the freezer for up to three months. To thaw, remove the storage wrap, place a dome over the cake and let it thaw in the fridge for 12 hours.

Devil’s Food Cake Tips

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What’s the difference between chocolate cake and devil’s food cake?

While both cakes have chocolate cake layers and frosting, devil’s food cake is more decadent, more bitter, darker and even a bit fluffier than chocolate cake. Devil’s food cake always uses Dutch-processed cocoa to impart its dark hue and deep chocolaty flavor, plus it has extra baking soda for a fluffier cake.

Can I bake this devil’s food cake recipe in a different pan?

You absolutely can use different cake pans to bake this cake. Instead of two 9-inch round cake pans, bake the cake in a 13×9-inch baking pan, two 8-inch square pans or three 6-inch round cake pans.

Can I make cupcakes from this devil’s food cake recipe instead?

Absolutely! This devil’s food cake recipe can make 24 cupcakes. Preheat the oven to 350° and line your muffin tins with cupcake liners. Make the batter as directed, then fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full with the batter. Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the middle cupcakes comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs, 15 to 20 minutes.