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Devil’s Food White Out Layer Cake

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layers of cake

There is nothing not to love about this cake, which explains why Dorie Greenspan chose to use it as the cover illustration for her most recent book, Baking, from My Home to Yours. First, it is stunning to look at. From afar, the cake appears to be covered with chocolate shavings or sprinkles, but upon closer inspection, you can see that it is decorated with cake crumbs. Patted gently into the sides of the white frosted cake, the crumbs give it an elegant, yet casual, look – the “shabby chic” of cakes.

Second, the white marshmallow filling/frosting is a good contrast for the cake. Sweet and light, it balances the rich tasting chocolate cake. It is very easy to work with, spreading smoothly with very little effort. The only drawback with it is that it is a bit time consuming to make, since you have to wait for a sugar syrup to come up to a very high temperature, then beat the finished frosting until it has cooled. It is worth the time investment, though. Unlike some other marshmallow-type frostings, this one holds up very well once it is finished, which means that and leftover cake can be kept (covered) in the refrigerator for a few days if you can’t eat it all at once.

Finally, the cake itself was excellent. It was very chocolaty, thank to the addition of the chocolate chips in the batter, and had a good depth of flavor. It was substantial and moist, but tender, so it didn’t feel overly heavy as you ate further into each (large) slice. Dorie Greenspan suggested using mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings in the cake, but I used full-sized chocolate chips to take advantage of the additional texture they provided. From the point of view of the cake-maker, I found the recipe to be very easy to work with. The cake rounds cut cleanly in half without resistance and held together without cracking as I moved them around my workspace and stacked them up.

This is definitely a recipe worth adding to your file for special occasions and celebrations – not because it is particularly difficult to make and should be made only occasionally, but because it is an impressive and delicious cake worth making again and again.

Devil’s Food White Out Layer Cake
Cake:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 oz. bittersweet/semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 cup water, warm
2/3 cup chocolate chips (regular or mini)

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease 2 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper, and butter the top of the paper.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder baking soda, baking powder and salt
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light. Beat in eggs one at a time, waiting until each is incorporated (1 minute per egg) to add the next, then beat in the vanilla and the melted chocolate.
Combine buttermilk and water in a measuring cup. Working in two or three additions, alternate adding buttermilk mixture and flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Scrape sides to ensure batter is even. Stir in chocolate chips and divide batter into prepared pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
Let cakes cool in their pans for 5 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks and peel off parchment paper. Cool completely.

Once cakes are cool, slice each in half. Three slices will be used for cake layers. One should be set aside and crumbled to make the topping.

Frosting
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Put the egg whites in to bowl of an electric mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer nearby.
Combine sugar, cream of tartar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cool until syrup reaches 242F (use a candy thermometer).
As syrup nears correct temperature, begin to beat egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly stream in the hot sugar syrup, followed by the vanilla extract. Beat for about 5 minutes after everything has been incorporated, or until frosting reaches room temperature.

Assembly

Place one layer of the chocolate cake on a cake stand or serving platter. Top with a generous amount of white frosting and spread into an even layer. Repeat with remaining two layers. Spread frosting down the sides of the cake and use a large, offset spatula to keep everything even. When the cake has been completely frosted, take the extra, crumbled cake layer and pat the crumbs into the sides of the cake (I went up the sides and over the top, but left the center of the top white).
Refrigerate for at least one hour and up to overnight before serving.

Serves 12.

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10 Comments
  • Brilynn
    April 20, 2007

    I made this cake for New Years and loved it, yours looks great!

  • Nicole
    April 20, 2007

    Thanks, Brilynn!

  • cheryl
    April 20, 2007

    You can never go wrong with this cake. And you did it well.

  • Abby
    April 21, 2007

    I made one of Dorie’s poundcakes today – the chocolate/sour cream one in a loaf pan. OMIGOD is all I can say. Her book is fantastic and she is so nice, too!

  • Claire
    April 22, 2007

    My roommate has already picked this out as her birthday cake…in August! Looks great…I only hope mine turns out as good.

  • Sophia
    September 29, 2007

    Hey this cake looks so cool! I just made it and my sides turned out a little differently. I put pieces of heath bar on the top and piped a border around the bottom edge. Mine didn’t rise enough, so I just made it a double layer cake. Great Job!

  • Tiffany
    July 17, 2008

    Out of curiosity, what’s your favorite basic chocolate cake recipe? I’m having trouble deciding if I should make this cake or the “classic chocolate cake” you have posted (or David Lebovitz devils food cake looks good too, hah)! If you don’t have a favorite, could you please post what the differences in taste, texture, density, etc with these two cakes so I could make a more educated decision? Thanks!!

    Oh the agony of trying to find the perfect basic chocolate cake recipe….

  • regione lazio it
    December 3, 2008

    me like THAT!:)

  • Sesso animale
    January 12, 2009

    Nice site you have!

  • Samantha Ullrich
    March 24, 2011

    You did a fabulous job with this cake! I’m about to make it and wanted to see how other’s liked it. Glad I came across your blog! Happy Baking!

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