There is something to be said about a simple chocolate cake. No frills, no fuss, no mountains of too sweet buttercream to spoil the treat—just chocolate and cake.
Growing up, I didn't like chocolate. I didn't like the way it looked, the way it smelled, or the way it tasted. I avoided brownies, chocolate ice cream, and chocolate cake like the plague. I'd snub my nose at candy bars. On my birthday, I would insist on eating strawberry shortcake—chocolate wasn't going to grace my special day. I was too cool for it and I wanted everyone to know it. Chocolate was the enemy.
On occasion, I would gobble down as many chocolate chip cookies as possible. I loved chocolate chip cookies. I was probably too naive to understand the brown spots were chocolate. Or, better yet, I knew they were chocolate but I had a tough girl I-don't-eat-no-chocolate image to uphold. I don't remember much from this stage in my life (perhaps I am blocking it from memory because I cannot fathom a life without chocolate), but this is what my mother tells me. And we must believe our mothers.
You can see my opinion on chocolate has certainly changed. Over 1/3 of the recipes on this website prominently feature chocolate as one of the main ingredients. I can't help myself. Chocolate is my vice; it corrupts me. I can't handle this level of decadence on my own, so I'm bringing you down with me.
I hope you don't mind.
This devil's food cake is the quintessential chocolate cake. It is dense and rich with chocolate. It is thick and sticks to the roof of your mouth. It is satisfying in the only way chocolate cake knows how. The frosting is a dark chocolate frosting. Made with brown sugar and unsweetened chocolate, it's dark, rich, and intense. This frosting isn't playing around. Combined with the devil's food cake, this is a lethal (and delicious) combination. You need this chocolate cake.
Devil's Food Cake with Dark Chocolate Frosting
Yields 1 10-inch or 2 8-inch cakes
Devil's Food Cake
Adapted heavily from Found Baking
3 eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups cake flour
Dash of salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup fresh brewed coffee
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cake pan(s).
In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until very full and thick.
In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt). Alternatively add the dry and wet ingredients to the egg mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Do not over mix. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for 10-15 minutes before removing and cooling completely on cooling rack.
Dark Chocolate Frosting
Yields enough frosting to thinly cover a 2-layer 8-inch cake
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 cup powdered sugar
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat. Add the brown sugar and milk. Increase the heat to medium and wait until the chocolate begins to boil, stirring occasionally. Turn down the heat to low and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Beat the powdered sugar into the frosting until it becomes lighter and spreadable. Frost the cooled cake.
