Devils Food Cake Layers

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE LAYERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 11- by-2-inch round cake pan and a 9-by-2- inch round cake pan. Line bottoms with parchment rounds, then butter parchment. Dust pans with cocoa powder, and tap out excess.
• Mix cocoa powder and the boiling water in a bowl until smooth. Let cool. Sift together cake flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and scraping sides of bowl as needed.
• Whisking constantly, pour milk into cocoa mixture in a slow, steady stream; whisk until smooth. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in three additions, alternating with cocoa-milk mixture, and starting and ending with flour mixture.
• Transfer 5 cups batter to the 11-inch pan and 3 cups batter to the 9-inch pan. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks and let cool completely. Invert cakes onto racks, then remove parchment and re-invert, top sides up. Use a serrated knife to trim top of each cake to make level.

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

Steps:

• To make the frosting: Put the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate, move the bowl gently to let the cream settle. Set the mixture aside until softened, about 4 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Cover the surface of the frosting with plastic wrap. Set aside and let set up at room temperature, about 2 hours.
• To make the cake: Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with a circle of parchment or wax paper.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and slowly add the sugar. Continue beating until light and smooth, about 4 minutes. Turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and beat at medium speed for 1 minute more. (Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl again, if needed.) With the mixer running at medium-low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Combine the water and milk in a saucepan and bring just to a boil. Remove from the heat.
• With the mixer at low speed, add the flour mixture, about a 1/4 cup at a time. Carefully pour the hot liquid into the batter. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a large rubber spatula, finish combining the batter until smooth. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Lightly drop each pan onto the counter to settle the batter.
• Set the pans on the middle rack in the oven. Bake until the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pans and the center springs back when touched lightly, about 30 to 35 minutes.
• Cool the cakes, in the pans, on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cake layers out of the pans and cool on the rack. (If not assembling the cake right away, wrap the layers in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 1 day, or freeze for up to 2 months.)
• Assemble the Devil's Food Cake. Place 1 cake layer upside-down on a cake stand or flat plate. Scoop about 1/3 of the icing onto the center of the layer. Using a large, offset spatula, spread the icing evenly over the layer to the edges. Place the other cake layer, rounded-side up, on top. Evenly spread half of the remaining icing over the top, spreading any excess icing down the sides. Spread the remaining icing around the sides of the cake. Use the tip of the offset spatula to make a swirling pattern in the icing. Serve. Store under a cake dome or loosely wrapped with plastic, at room temperature, for up to 2 days.
• Copyright 2001 Television Food Network, GP. All rights reserved

DEVIL'S FOOD WHITE-OUT LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Grease 2 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper (or see recipe #452719), and butter the top of the parchment paper (if using wax paper, do NOT butter the top of the paper or it will stick.).
• 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.
• For the Frosting: 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 242 degrees F (using 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.
• To Assemble: 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 (one option is 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.