Sweeter Frosting For Devils Food Cake

Asked by jono_l. Answered on 24th May 2016

Full question

Hi, I am just wondering about the frosting from the Devil's Food Cake. I'm making a cake for a group of people including children and I know quite a few of them don't like dark chocolate. Can I add icing sugar to this recipe to make the frosting sweeter, or can I use a good quality milk chocolate instead? Thanks in advance.

Our answer

Nigella's Devil's Food Cake (from KITCHEN) has a ganache type frosting that is made from dark chocolate plus butter and water. The dark chocolate helps the frosting to set to a fudgy consistency. The icing is part of the allure of the cake and it is not as typically sweet as a standard chocolate buttercream. It is possible to use some milk chocolate but you may find that milk chocolate on its own is too sweet and the frosting could be a little sickly. We suspect that a mixture of half milk chocolate and half dark chocolate may work better and still suit the tastes of those who do not like the intensity of dark chocolate. Try to use a good quality milk chocolate as cheaper ones contain vegetable fats instead of cocoa butter.

Alternatively you could use the icing from Nigella's Chocolate Fudge Cake. This is a chocolate flavoured buttercream and has more sugar and butter to offset the dark chocolate. The recipe should make enough to fill and cover the Devil's Food Cake.