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Mary Anne here. In honor of Father’s Day, I opted to plumb the pages of my catering archives and recreate a Devil’s Food Cake that was a favorite “special occasion confection” from gigs past. While both my dad and step-dad are no longer in this world, I humbly offer a culinary tribute to two equally vivacious dudes, whose appetites were as big as their respective personalities!
Feeling festive, I decided to crank up the chocolate factor by sprinkling a couple of tablespoons of semi-sweet chocolate chips throughout the rich batter. The chips don’t melt completely, which leaves a minefield of soft chocolatey surprises and adds texture to this chocoholic’s dream cake. Bonus: if your pantry is well-stocked, this cake costs next to nothing.
Since I don’t have a dad to honor this Sunday, I delivered this sinful beauty to my favorite orthopedist – a devil to work with in the operating room, and a saint for having just helped me land a fabulous new job. When I brought it to his office, he – without pause – inhaled a slice like it was oxygen.
To all the dads out there, we wish you a very Happy Father’s Day filled with sweet treats that’ll put a devilish smile on your face and a buoyant bounce in your step! And for more recipes to help you fete the father in your life, check out our Father’s Day or Memorial Day menus.
Don’t forget to enter our Edgeware zester & grater giveaway!
Print This Recipe
Old-Fashioned Devil’s Food Cake
Serves 12
Note: I like to use buttermilk in this cake as it enhances the rich, deep chocolate flavor. You can freeze the leftover milk or whip up some of our coleslaw as part of your Dad’s day feast.
The un-frosted cake can be prepared the day before. Cool completely, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Prepare the icing according to the following instructions, and then bring the finished cake back to room temperature before serving.
Ingredients:
For the cake:
½ cup hot, brewed coffee- stock
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder – stock
½ cup buttermilk – $2.49
1 Teaspoon vanilla – stock
2 cups all-purpose flour – stock
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened – stock
2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed – stock
2 large eggs – stock
2 Tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips – stock
For the icing:
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder – stock
1 stick unsalted butter, softened– stock
3 ½ cups Confectioner’s sugar – stock
¾ cup milk or cream – stock
1 Teaspoon vanilla – stock
Grand Total Assuming a Well-Stocked Pantry: $2.49
Total Per Slice: $0.21
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray ( i.e. Pam) the bottom and sides of 2- 9” round cake pans. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit each round bottom and place in pans. Spray or butter the parchment and lightly flour the bottoms, knocking out the excess flour over the sink.
2. Prepare the cake. In a small bowl, whisk together the hot coffee and the ¾ cup of cocoa powder to form a paste. Add the buttermilk and vanilla, whisking well to combine. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter with the brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Using the lowest setting on your mixer, add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa-coffee mixture. Beat until just combined. (I finish this part by hand, so that the cake is moist and not over beaten.)
6. Divide the batter between the 2 prepared pans and sprinkle the tops with the chocolate chips.
7. Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs clinging to the shaft. Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife along the sides of the pans to loosen the edges. Invert onto the wire racks lined with foil. Remove the parchment paper.
7. Allow the cake to cool completely before icing. To prepare the icing: in a large bowl, combine the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, and milk.
8. Add the cocoa and softened butter and using an electric mixer, beat until creamy.
9. Place one cake layer on a serving platter or cake plate. Spread a thick coating of icing over the top. Top with the second layer and spread the remaining icing over the top and sides. Using a small icing knife, create decorative swirls over the top of the cake. Garnish with additional chocolate chips or chocolate curls, if desired.
Looks wonderful! I like how you said the chips don’t melt completely… that sounds like a nice surprise!
If you don’t have buttermilk, you can substitute with vinegar and regular milk. It’s 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup of milk, so for this recipe you’d use 1.5 teaspoons vinegar and 1/2 cup milk. And save yourself $2.49!
Great tip, Melissa!! I couldn’t remember the ratio when I was writing the instructions, so this is a big help. I am one of those cooks who always has buttermilk on hand – either fresh or leftover in the freezer. I agree, why spend the bucks when you can make your own. My only question though – can you do this with 1% milk, or does it have to be whole milk? I’m thinking it shouldn’t matter, as you’re basically making sour milk. Let me know if you have an answer, and thanks again for reminding me of the formula! Cheers!
You can also use lemon juice, in the place of vinegar 🙂 Just let it sit and get thick for about 5 minutes or so!
Whoa, now that’s a real cake!
Thanks for the tip on the buttermilk Melissa K, now I can sub lactaid milk and goat butter to make it for my lactarded family!
It doesn’t get much better than homemade chocolate cake! This one is just beautiful – I am especially enticed by the “minefield of chocolatey surprises” within. 🙂
Mary Anne, you really deserve a prize , not only for your delicious cake recipe – but also for your photograph skills, The cake looked so real on my computer- I was tempted to pick out that little chocolate chip that stands up in the front. xxxooo LOVE, Mrs, A P,S, Beautiful tribute !!!
Thanks, Mrs. A. You are even sweeter than the cake!! xoxo
Wonderful looking cake! My hips are growing just looking at it on the computer.
You have done it again! This looks to die for! I love the addition of coffee. (I remember that in your BBQ sauce too…makes everything better, doesn’t it?) This got bookmarked! My hubby loves white cake with chocolate frosting but I’m sure I can find another occasion for this!
I am craving chocolate now!
That cake looks amazing! Bookmarked! Thanks for the recipe. Oh, and that’s a stumble right now! 🙂
Thanks – so glad you like it!! M & M
This is a beautiful cake! I love those icing swirls on top 🙂 I”d pay 2.49 for them alone 🙂
🙂
oh how wonderful!! Looks incredible
When in doubt, always go with the classics! And what a wonderful, wonderful classic this is. I think sometimes in our exploration of new tastes and new recipes we often forget the tried and true like this beautiful cake. I’ll take a large slice with a big glass of milk, please 🙂
Cold milk and creamy chocolate – could it possibly get any better?!
There is nothing in the world better than a rich chocolate cake and this looks fantastic. Can’t wait to try it. I’m thinking that last “One Teaspoon” in the icing recipe is probably vanilla, but if it’s not, do tell, please.
thanks Alice! I couldn’t figure out what it was but I would bet my bottom dollar that it is vanilla! Good Catch, no one else said anything about it!
Hi, Alice. Yup. Vanilla it ’tis. I blame everything on data overload. Sometimes my brain is racing so fast to get things accomplished, my poor -untrained- typing digits simply can’t keep up. Thanks for catching my slip and glad Mariel figured it out! Vacation time?? Cheers! Mary Anne
Oh yeah! I would gladly eat a big ol’ slice of this cake 🙂
This cake looks so moist and looks like the perfect weekend cake! Happy Baking!
When do I add the brown sugar???
Oh, Meredith. A huge apology to you and all of our readers. First of all, the butter should be softened, not melted, for the cake part. You cream the softened butter with your mixer and then gradually add the brown sugar, followed by the eggs, etc. You melt the butter for the icing part of the recipe. Again, so sorry and I hope you get this quickly. I’ve updated the recipe and it’s posted now. Can’t apologize enough – just a messy note-taker sometimes when I’m working on a recipe. No excuse. Should’ve caught it in the proof read. Please let me know how your cake turns out.
hahaha, that is ok.. after having much debate with myself I decided to not melt the butter to cream it with the brown sugar. Now onto to the frosting!!
Phew! So glad you were able to sort it all. Was my face red! Thank you for being so gracious and hope you love the cake as much as we did. Cheers!
I am dying to have this cake, not just a single slice either! I will be making it soon!
Oh wow, that’s an incredible cake! I have everything on hand to make it, too. That could be dangerous.
Looks Heavenly though its a DEVIL’s food Cake!! 😉 Mind blowing
Hi Mary Anne,
I was looking for a chocolate cake recipe for my son-in-laws’ b’day and I encountered several
problems explicitly following your directions. When I’ve made buttercream frostings I’ve always
used softened, not melted butter. When I tried to incorporate the confectioners sugar, cocoa, butter
etc. I ended up with a syrup-like mixture which I tried to fix by doubling the original amounts of
confectioners sugar and cocoa which added to the overall volume but only slightly affected the
spreading consistency. Was this a mistake in the recipe instructions or my error?
Rosemary Richards