Even young Ebeneezer was treated to "a curiously heavy cake" by his schoolmaster upon leaving school at Christmas time. And while the implication in the indictment of the "curiously light wine" leaves me thinking the cake wasn't so much a delicacy as an affront to yuletide pastry, it made me think of devils food cake, which is at once heavy and deliciously rich. I had aspirations to share this beautiful creation with some neighbors but the fork moved faster than my will to share and it was gone before I knew it. Perhaps I still need to learn the lessons Scrooge was fortunate enough to learn from the ghosts, past, present, and future. Maybe I will be visited by aparitions warning me of dire consequences if I do not change my ways. Or perhaps I will notice my clothes shrinking and realize that I gotta stop eating everything I see and start exercising again. Oh the Ghost of Christmas Treadmill leave me be!!!
And so I give you...
Moist and Tender Devil's Food Cake
From cooksillustrated.com
Why this recipe works:
Ingredients
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 cups water (boiling)
- 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 8 ounces unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened, plus extra for greasing pans
- 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to upper- and lower-middle positions; heat oven
to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, grease three 8-inch cake pans with butter and
line bottom of each pan with parchment paper round. Combine chocolate
and cocoa in medium bowl; pour boiling water over and whisk until
smooth. Sift together flours, baking soda, and salt onto large sheet
parchment or waxed paper; set aside.
2. Place butter in bowl of standing mixer and beat at medium-high
speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar and beat on high
until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape down bowl
with rubber spatula. Increase speed to medium-high and add eggs one at a
time, beating 30 seconds after each addition. Reduce speed to medium;
add sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined, about 10 seconds.
Stop mixer and scrape down bowl. With mixer on low, add about one third
of flour mixture, followed by about one half of chocolate mixture.
Repeat, ending with flour mixture; beat until just combined, about 15
seconds. Do not overbeat. Remove bowl from mixer; scrape bottom and
sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix gently to thoroughly combine.
3. Divide batter evenly among cake pans, smooth batter to edges of
pan with rubber spatula. If baking three 8-inch cakes, place two pans on
lower-middle rack and one on upper-middle rack. Bake until skewer
inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 23 minutes for 8-inch cakes.
Cool on wire rack 15 to 20 minutes. Run knife around pan perimeter to
loosen. Invert cakes onto large plate; peel off parchment, and reinvert
onto lightly greased rack. Cool completely before icing.
I topped it with
Fluffy White Frosting
From
The All American Dessert Book
Nancy Baggett
Ingredients:
I topped it with
Fluffy White Frosting
From
The All American Dessert Book
Nancy Baggett
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 large), completely free of yolk and at room temperature.
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup water, plus 3 Tablespoons warm water, if needed (divided)
- Scant 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- pinch of salt
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Place the whites in a completely grease-free large bowl. Set the bowl in a larger bowl of very hot water and let stand, gently stirring occaisionally, until the whites warm to 100° F (or very warm to the touch), about 10 minutes. (It's usually necessary to replace the water with more hot water once or twice to warm the whites sufficiently.)
- Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup of water in a heavy 2 quart saucepan, stirring until well blended. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. With a pastry brush dipped in warm water or a damp paper towel, wipe away any sugar from the pan sides. Continue boiling, without stirring further, for 2-3 minutes longer or until the mixture reaches 240° F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat. (To test for the doneness without a candy thermometer, remove the pan from the heat after 1 minute. Drop a teaspoon of the syrup iinto ice water. if cooked enough, after 10 seconds the syrup will form a firm ball that softens just slightly when squeezed between your fingertips. If the ball is not firm, cook for 30 seconds longer, remove the pan from the heat, test again, and continue cooking, if necessary, until it is the right consistency.)
- Using a mixer (with a wisk-shaped beater, if available) on low speed, beat the whites, cream of tartar, and salt for 30 seconds. Increase the speed ti medium and beat until the whites are very frothy and opaque and just begin to peak. Immediately reheat the syrup just to simmering.
- Beating the whites on medium speed, immediately begin slowly pouring the syrup in a thin stream down the bowl sides (avoid the beaters, or the syrup will stick to them). Pour so that all the syrup is incorporated in about 30 seconds. Continue beating on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Raise the speed to high and beat until the mixture stands in stiff but not dry peaks and has cooled to warm, 3-4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla until evenly incorporated. The frosting is easiest to spread when fluffy and fairly soft (the consistency of stiffly whipped cream). If it seems too stiff or at all gummy, gradually beat up to 3 tablespoons warm water to soften. (Note that the frosting will continue to stiffen as it cools and stands.)
- Frost the cake immediately, following the directions provided in the specific cake recipe.
Don't repeat my mistakes or the same waistband awaits you!!!
Do enjoy sharing some cake this holiday season and Merry Christmas!
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