devil’s food cake

I haven’t felt much like cooking lately. Between hospital visits and Holiday hoopla, it just hasn’t been at the top of my priority list. But an impending [30th!] birthday celebration with a dozen of my favorite folks gave me a great excuse to try a new recipe- and rekindle my relationship with my KitchenAid mixer. 

Saturday morning I work up, bounded out of bed and raced off to the grocery store to gather supplies for my first homemade [birthday!] cake of the year. And let me tell you- I enjoyed every part of this baking process. 

Typically I’m the girl that rushes around the kitchen because ohmygod I forgot to sift the flour and the sugar together and now the butter is burning on the stove and when will I learn to read the directions beforehand!? But not this time. This time I actually enjoyed baking. Shocking, right? When I sit down and take the time to pay attention to something it can actually be an enjoyable experience. Gives new meaning to slow down, right?!

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Devils Food Cake

The players:

(for the cake)

  • 6 Tbsp unsalted butter (room temp)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cups self-rising flour

(for the icing)

  • 1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)
  • 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 Tbsp cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
  • 2 Tbsp milk

The play-by-play:

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Grease and line two 8-inch, round layer cake pans with parchment paper. Cream the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well after each addition. In a small, separate bowl dissolve the cocoa powder in the water. The add the chocolate mixture alternately with the flour into the butter mixture until all is blended smoothly. Divide the batter between the two pans and bake in the center of the oven for 25- 30 minutes until firm and just coming away from the side of the pans. Cool on a rack. 

To make the icing, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the cocoa powder and milk and beat until combined. Sandwich the cakes together using half of the icing, then use the remainder to top the cake. 

Tip: Garnish the cake with chocolate curls! [which I did- but they looked more like chocolate landing strips so no pictures of that were taken. sorry.]

To make chocolate curls to decorate the cake, melt 3 1/2 ounces of dark chocolate (I used 60% cocoa solids), then pour onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and spread it out thinly. Cool until set, then carefully drag a sharp knife from one end of the chocolate to the other to form curls (or- in my case- landing strips).

Also, thank the Lord for cakes intended to look “rustic”. This is another story for another time- but it’s fairly safe to assume I’ll never make a guest appearance on Ace of Cakes. 

recipe adapted (I nixed the raspberry coulis) from Pippa Middleton’s book Celebrate! // also available here

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let the birthday boy eat cake!

Blake’s 30th birthday is right around the corner- less than two weeks to be exact! Not that I’m couting or anything. So long as he turns 30 a solid 4 years 50 weeks before me, it’s all good in the H hood. 

Since I’ve discovered some new to me baking skills [kind of like Napoleon Dynamite and his nunchuck skills only with cake flour, a whisk and better hair] over the past few months, I think I’m going to attempt a homemade cake for his big day. The only concern is that this one sounds VERY challenging…

momofuku milk bar birthday cake | for a more abridged recipe with American-ized measurements, check out the Huffington Post version 

Now, please excuse me as I execute my seemingly torid search for citric acid.

oxo