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DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

Forget the name, this cake is heavenly. The crumb is tender, the filling and frosting luscious.  When I made it one friday, I expected my children, resident food critics much in the mould of the Grim eater, to find it too dark, too rich, not sweet enough: you get the gist. Instead, I came down on Saturday morning to find nothing but an empty, chocolate-smeared cake stand and a trail of crumbs. You may prefer to prepare this the other way round from me, and get the frosting underway before you make the cakes. Either way, read the recipe through before you start cooking (I shouldn't have to remind) to get the shape of things in your head, not least because the frosting is softer, stickier than you may be used to.  While you're making it, don't panic. The mixture will seem very runny for ages once the chocolate has melted and you will think you have a liquid gleaming glaze, beautiful but unfit for purpose; leave it for about an hour, as stipulated, though, and it will be perfect and spreadable. It never quite dries to the touch, but this is, in part, what makes the cake so darkly luscious. Goo here is good.

Recipe posted by Nigella

Ingredients

  • Nigella Recipe
  • Vegetarian
  • for the cake:
  • 50g best-quality cocoa powder, sifted
  • 100g dark muscovado sugar
  • 250ml boiling water
  • 125g soft unsalted butter, plus some for greasing
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 225g plain flour
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • for the frosting:
  • 125ml water
  • 30g dark muscovado sugar
  • 175g unsalted butter cubed
  • 300g best-quality dark chocolate finely chopped
  • 2 x 20cm sandwich tins

 

Method

Serves: 10 - 12
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
  2. Line the bottoms of both sandwich tins with baking parchment and butter the sides.
  3. Put the cocoa and 100g dark muscovado sugar into a bowl with a bit of space to spare, and pour in the boiling water. Whisk to mix, then set aside.
  4. Cream the butter and caster sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy; I find this easiest with a freestanding mixer, but by hand wouldn’t kill you.
  5. While this is going on – or as soon as you stop if you’re mixing by hand – stir the flour, baking powder and bicarb together in another bowl, and set aside for a moment.
  6. Dribble the vanilla extract into the creamed butter and sugar – mixing all the while – then drop in 1 egg, quickly followed by a scoopful of flour mixture, then the second egg.
  7. Keep mixing and incorporate the rest of the dried ingredients for the cake, then finally mix and fold in the cocoa mixture, scraping its bowl well with a spatula.
  8. Divide this fabulously chocolatey batter between the 2 prepared tins and put in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
  9. Take the tins out and leave them on a wire rack for 5–10 minutes, before turning the cakes out to cool.
  10. But as soon as the cakes are in the oven, get started on your frosting: put the water, 30g muscovado sugar and 175g butter in a pan over a low heat to melt.
  11. When this mixture begins to bubble, take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirling the pan so that all the chocolate is hit with heat, then leave for a minute to melt before whisking till smooth and glossy.
  12. Leave for about 1 hour, whisking now and again – when you’re passing the pan – by which time the cakes will be cooled, and ready for the frosting.
  13. Set one of the cooled cakes, with its top side down, on a cake stand or plate, and spread with about a third of the frosting, then top that with the second cake, regular way up, and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides, swirling away with your spatula. You can go for a smooth look, but I never do and probably couldn’t.
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Comments

  • hay on master chef they had to make this and a ton of other things! your the best nigella!!!!! :)

    Posted by danthechef on 10th Jun 2011 at 8.46

  • This cake was gorgeous very moist and not to say 'chocolately' I did find the frosting easy to make but it took a while to set maybe it was the chocolate i used.. very nice will be making this again thanks Nigella

    Posted by angelmaggs on 28th Jul 2011 at 14.05

  • I like this cake . . melting in the mouth wow it was perfect ! Thank you

    Posted by Mamdouh on 4th Aug 2011 at 13.09

  • Every time i bake a cake, it becomes hard. Not as soft as it's supposed to be. Can anyone help me telling me where am i going wrong?

    Posted by Fariel on 5th Aug 2011 at 16.13

  • This is an amazin cake my auntie makes this for me and brother when we go around there for tea, it got a nice taste i've even watched her make it. Thanks for the great taste!

    Posted by Jadetrue x on 7th Aug 2011 at 21.21

  • very easy to follow and extremely yummy!! :P

    Posted by emibop on 8th Aug 2011 at 23.18

  • Heavenly Devil's Cake!! Yes, it is and i completely vote for it. Not because it me only who loved it but also my friends, family office collegues. It's simple, made of things easily found in the kitchen, gives you immense satisfaction ( i kept thinking is it me who baked this ) and completely divine. Head's up: Frosting takes time to thicken, so prepare in advance and be accurate with its measurement.

    Posted by vishweta on 30th Aug 2011 at 8.42

  • This recipe is fantastic. The icing is sticky and fun. I made this recipe with my grandma and she dropped one of the halves on the way out of the oven. We made another one and kept the left over half with the left over icing and dunked it in whilst drinking tea. Simply devine.

    Posted by Anj T on 5th Sep 2011 at 7.17

  • Oh my godness! This cake is the best chocolatecake I have ever made! If it was up to me I would like to make this every weekend.... Wait! It is upto me ;) Thank you for sharing your brilliant recipes! PS: http://goodcupcakesgood.blogspot.com/2011/07/nigellas-devils-food-cake.html (in norwegian, but google can translate it ;)

    Posted by Good cupcakes good on 5th Sep 2011 at 18.52

  • This is true chocolate heaven and for us a real 'must have' especially at Easter....and Christmas....and the weekend....you get the idea !

    Posted by Doudou on 12th Sep 2011 at 8.49

  • Heavenly-devine..... I made this cake for my husband to take into work and he said that within 10 minutes of him getting there.......it was gone. Was easy to make and will surely be making it again. Vickie. x

    Posted by vickieslack on 13th Sep 2011 at 23.01

  • you are the best chef in the world

    Posted by upneeticas on 24th Sep 2011 at 9.09

  • This tasted marvellous, but I too had a bit of trouble with the frosting. I let it stand for two hours, and it still hadn't thickened. But my friends were coming, I couldn't wait any longer, so I tipped it over the cake. It was terribly liquid and just sort of flooded the cake. We ended up with a delicious-tasting squidgy mess - any ideas why?

    Posted by Alice206 on 30th Sep 2011 at 14.34

  • hey Nigella...Thanks:) tired the cake for my bday n it trnd out totally awesm n was a totally hit...the best bday cake eva!!!

    Posted by Dominica on 1st Oct 2011 at 18.08

  • Ok, tried this again (and again with very little time to spare) and I shoved the frosting in the freezer for ten minutes. Worked like a charm - thickened up in no time and was perfectly spreadable. Also, I put a layer of raspberry jam in the centre which was delish - really set off the chocolate. Next time I make it, I think I might fill it with marscapone......!

    Posted by Alice206 on 9th Oct 2011 at 13.15

  • I made this for a birthday party at the weekend and it was utterly divine! I solved the 'runny icing' problem with two generous tablespoons of extra-thick double cream and an extra whisk - worked perfectly. I made and iced it the night before so by the time it was eaten the icing had set. Perfect!

    Posted by CheshireMel on 17th Oct 2011 at 17.42

  • BEST CAKE EVER!!!!!!!!!! you are my fav chef and i love your food!!!!!! xx :)

    Posted by jlh on 25th Oct 2011 at 3.16

  • wOOOOW! tHAT'S GORGEUS!!!!! I always did it with the Betty Crocker mix, I thought it was too hard to do all by myself!!!!

    Posted by KEKS on 27th Oct 2011 at 12.39

  • We tried it! Everybody Loved it! :D My friends mother-in-law who is rather hard to please was speechless :D Put the icing in the fridge for a while before icing the cake. Turned out beautiful. Thanks for the tip :D

    Posted by Blossomrod on 1st Nov 2011 at 6.43

  • Divinely delish!!! I've never had a more "chocolatey" chocolate cake before. The entire cake was devoured in record timing!! Even my 3 and 2 yr olds loved it!!!! Thank you.. Will be making it again..

    Posted by nrachelt on 4th Nov 2011 at 13.01

  • My alltime favorite chocolate tart! Keep making and recommending it. It is tricky though to get the ganache (or rather wait) at the right thickness

    Posted by Soesje on 15th Nov 2011 at 17.38

  • Hey Nigella! It's a totally different experience cooking with your recipes! :) I made devil's food cake today.

    Posted by namratadu on 24th Nov 2011 at 14.12

  • Hi Nigella, you are one of our favourite! This cake will be the birthday cake of my 1 year old baby boy!!! Hope I can manage to bake it :-) Thanks for the recepit!

    Posted by BabaAndi on 28th Nov 2011 at 8.17

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