Fudgy Black and White Devil’s Food Cake

Four layers of rich chocolate cake filled with vanilla buttercream and covered in a luscious whipped chocolate buttercream.

This cake really is the perfect birthday cake.  The chocolate cake layers are so fudgy that they are even delicious without frosting (a couple of years ago we had a chocolate cake taste test and couldn’t get over how well this cake could stand alone).  However, this is a birthday cake, and buttercream is very, very important.  So I sliced the 2 cake layers in half horizontally to give room for double the filling, a delicious basic vanilla buttercream.  Then I covered the entire cake in whipped chocolate buttercream.  Let me tell you, this cake is amazing and rich.  Make this for your next special occasion, it will not disappoint.

Fudgy Black and White Devil’s Food Cake

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients:

- 43g (~1/3 cup) good quality dark unsweetened cocoa powder[/url]

- 1g (1 teaspoon) instant espresso powder

- 112g dark chocolate (I used 72%), roughly chopped

- 240 milliliters (1 cup) boiling water

- 10 milliliters (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract

- 227g (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

- 232g (~1 cup, tightly packed) light brown sugar

- 210g (~1 cup) granulated sugar

- 150g (~3 large) eggs, at room temperature

- 246g (~2 1/4 cups) cake flour

- 5g (1 teaspoon) baking soda

- 4g (1/2 teaspoon) salt

- 240 milliliters (1 cup) buttermilk

- Vanilla Buttercream (see below)

- Whipped Chocolate Buttercream (see below)

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Grease and flour two  9-inch round pans and line bottoms with parchment paper

3. In a medium heat-proof bowl, combine the cocoa powder, espresso powder and chocolate; pour boiling water over mixture and whisk together until melted and smooth; stir in vanilla; set aside to cool

4. In the large bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter until light and creamy; add sugars and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, mixing at medium speed between each

5. Sift cake flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside

6. Whisk buttermilk into cooled chocolate mixture

7. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to mixing bowl and mix on low speed just until combined; add half of chocolate mixture and mix on low again, just until combined; scrape the sides of the mixing bowl and repeat with 1/3 of flour mixture remaining chocolate mixture; remove bowl from mixer and fold in remaining dry ingredients; be careful not to overmix the batter

8. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center of cakes

9. Set cake layers aside to cool for 10 minutes then carefully remove each layer from pans; run a knife around the edge of each layer for easier removal

10. Once cake layers are completely cooled, use a serrated knife to carefully cut each layer in half horizontally, creating 4 cake layers; set aside and make buttercreams

Notes: Cake barely adapted from the Cookbook Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Desserts

Store cake in refrigerator and serve at room temperature; best eaten within three days