Devils Food Chocolate Cake

How old were you when you had your first recipe journal?

I had mine when I was 12. I loved to try new recipes and play with the ingredients (comes from my mother) and once I thought I perfected it, I'd write it in my recipe journal.  

When I became a cake decorator I was going thru some of my old books and was fascinated to see this recipe. Of course I wanted to check how good I was back then, so I tried it again.  Not bad really.
I did make a few changes here and there but still quite proud that I first made it when I was 12. Thanks to my mom who always supported my kitchen experiments; and took pride in my achievements. I miss her so much.

This recipe will make  Two 6 inch layers each 2 inch tall making a 4 inch high cake. OR
One 8" layers cake- 2 inch tall

For Two 8 inch layers making a cake 4 inch high - double the recipe baked in two 8 inch pan and bake longer..

Ingredients

170 grams / 3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
300 grams / 1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
60 grams / 1/2 cup Coco Powder
220 grams/ 2 cups  All purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
175 ml / 3/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp of  Vanilla
175ml/ 3/4 cup boiling water.
  
Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C / 340F.

Have all your ingredients ready. Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt into the flour and combine.

 First, place your coco powder in a heat proof bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Stir to dissolve. Let it cool.

Next, place your butter and sugar in an electric mixer and mix till light and fluffy.

start adding the eggs; one at a time.

 Now pour in the chocolate mixture.Make sure it is cooled not hot (you do not want to melt the butter)

Next the flour and sour cream into the batter. As well as the Vanilla.

Your batter is ready. This is how it will look. Not to thick but not liquid either.

Pour it into your baking pan and bake for about 35 to 45 minutes.
I only need a 6 inch cake for my order. So I'm making a 6" x 3 inch high pan;  plus a few mini cakes. (I can never have enough of these around)

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove from pan and cool completely before decorating.

Try this with my Buttercream or Chocolate Ganache. Yum!

I personally love this cake filled with chocolate mousse and frosted with Chocolate Ganache. 
But I've given so many variations of this to customers that the possibilities are endless.

For an orange flavor - substitute the vanilla extract with Orange extract, fill and frost with orange buttercream.
For strawberry - substitute the vanilla for strawberry extract, fill and frost with fresh cream and strawberries.
For Chocoholics - layer the above recipe with Chocolate buttercream or chocolate mousse and frost with Chocolate Ganache.

In this case I am layering the cake with vanilla buttercream in between layers, Chocolate Ganache on the outside and decorating it with Fondant. You will see the finished cake when I publish under Crossword/fishing cake.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Thanks for stopping by, Until next time.
Happy cake decorating..