Devil's Food Cake vs Chocolate Cake

My friend Judy Bobalik asked today what the difference is between Devil's Food Cake and Chocolate Cake. Good question, and I don't think I've ever addressed it. Seems like there are many different interpretations. Some recipes use cocoa, some melted chocolate, some add coffee or hot liquid, and some increase the baking soda.

According to Wikipedia:

Because of differing recipes and changing ingredient availability over the course of the twentieth century, it is difficult to precisely qualify what distinguishes Devil's food from the more standard chocolate cake. The traditional Devil's food cake is made with shredded beets much the way a carrot cake is made with carrots. The beets add moisture and sweetness to the cake, helping it to be very rich. The red of the beets slightly colors the cake red and due to the richness of the cake it became known as the Devil's food. 

O.k. That's a beet cake or a 'natural' red velvet cake, and I make a good one, but it's not a Devil's Food Cake in my opinion.


Devil's food cake is generally more moist and airy than other chocolate cakes, and often uses cocoa as opposed to chocolate for the flavor as well as coffee. The lack of melted chocolate and the addition of coffee is typically what distinguishes a Devil's food cake from a chocolate cake, though some recipes call for all, resulting in an even richer chocolate flavor. The use of hot, or boiling water as the cake's main liquid, rather than milk, is also a common difference. 

Devil's food cake is sometimes distinguished from other chocolate cakes by the use of additional baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) which raises the pH level and makes the cake a deeper and darker mahogany color. Devil's food cake incorporates butter (or a substitute), egg whites, flour (while some chocolate cakes are flourless) and less egg than other chocolate cakes. Devil's food cake was introduced in the United States in the early 20th century with the recipe in print as early as 1905. 

A similar cake, the red velvet cake, is closely linked to a Devil's food cake, and in some turn of the century cookbooks the two names may have been interchangeable. Most red velvet cakes today use red food coloring, but even without it, the reaction of acidic vinegar and buttermilk tends to better reveal the red anthocyanin in the cocoa. When used in cakes, acid causes reddening of cocoa powder when baked, and before more alkaline "Dutch Processed" cocoa was widely available, the red color would have been more pronounced. This natural tinting may have been the source for the name "Red Velvet" as well as "Devil's Food" and a long list of similar names for chocolate cakes.

I'm partial to Devil's Food Cake.

Here are several mid-century recipes. Sorry about the light print on the first cookbook.

I've posted many Devil's Food Cake recipes in the past, but today I have four mid-century recipes. The first recipe is for Cocoa Devil's Food Cake from How To Get the Most Out of Your Sunbeam Mixmaster (1950). I posted a "Mix-Easy" Devil's Food Cake for Mother's Day, and you might want to look at that one, too. It's pretty much the same as the following recipe. This is a good page for this post since there's a Chocolate Cake recipe next to the Devil's Food Cake recipe.

This same cookbook has a recipe for Black Devil's Food Cake, so now we have Cocoa Devil's Food Cake, Black Devil's Food Cake, and below a Red Devil's Food Cake. As you see, the following Black Devil's Food cake is made with cocoa and with the addition of strong hot coffee or boiling water.

The Red Devil's Food Cake is a variation on the Chocolate Fudge Cake on the same page, and to save space, they didn't reprint the entire recipe! It's a very small pamphlet. The baking soda is increased, but otherwise it's the same cake. This recipe is from the Recipes for your Hamilton Beach Mixer-17 Delicious New Cakes (1947). Don't you just love that someone wrote good next to the recipe? It's the same recipe I posted (but from a different pamphlet) on Devil's Food Cake Day for Mother's Day. 

And one more Red Devil's Food Cake from the same mid-century period. This one is from Kate Smith Chooses her 55 Favorite Ann Pillsbury CAKE RECIPES.

Enough Devil's Food Cake recipes? Never! Have a look at Martha Washington's Devil's Food Cake which is from Capitol Hill Cooks: Recipes from the White House by Linda Bauer. This is a great Buttermilk Devil's Food Cake!

So what's the difference between Devil's Food Cake and Chocolate Cake? You decide.

Devil's Food Cake Day: Retro Ads & recipes

Baker's Ad 1933

Today is National Devil's Food Cake Day. Devil's Food Cake is one of the most popular chocolate cakes in the United States. Because of that I've posted many Recipes and Retro Ads before, but here are a few more for Devil's Food Cake!

Want to drink your Devil's Food Cake today? Head over to The Martini Diva for a Devil's Food Cake Martini.

Hope you enjoy this Round-up of Retro Devil's Food Cake ads. Have a big piece of Devil's Food Cake to celebrate!

Baker's Chocolate Ad 1940s

The Baker's Ads are earlier and everything is from scratch, but as you know from reading this blog, boxed mixes came in as a space saving measure after World War II, so I have several ads for Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines.

Mixmaster Cake Genius: Retro Devil's Food Cake

So yesterday I posted a Mother's Day Sunbeam Mixmaster Ad and recipe for Chocolate Cake. The Mother in that ad looked more like my grandmother. It got me searching, and I found this Sunbeam Mixmaster Ad from May 28, 1945 (below).  The woman in the advertisement looks more like my Mother. Don't you think?

Of course, I just kept digging for a clearer version of the recipe for Devil's Food Cake, and I found this handy dandy little cake pamphlet from Sunbeam: How to be a Cake Genius with your Sunbeam Mixmaster. Pretty fabulous, huh?

So here's another recipe for Mother's Day Chocolate Cake: Mix Easy Devil's Food. You know you were a little devil, so make Mom this Devil's Food Cake to repent.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! 

May 28, 1945

My Mother c. 1942

America's 3 Favorite Chocolate Foods: Baker's Chocolate Vintage Ad & Recipes

There certainly are a lot of favorite Chocolate Foods, but this Baker's Chocolate Vintage Ad from Life Magazine, January 6, 1941, gives three chocolate recipes that are still a great way to start the New Year-- 71 years later! Rich Chocolate Frosting. Yes! Chocolate Fudge. Yes! Devil's Food Cake. Yes! Enjoy!

Devil's Food Cake: 7 Ways: Vintage Recipes

Happy Devil's Food Cake Day!

I've posted Recipes and Vintage Ads for Devil's Food Cake & Devil's Food Cupcakes. I also posted Martha Washington's Recipe for Devil's Food Cake and another easy Devil's Food Cake recipe, but thought you'd enjoy this "7 Good Fun-to-Make Cakes using Chocolate Devil's Food Cake Mix". It's from a Betty Crocker pamphlet. It's amazing how unappetizing some of these photos in these old recipe pamphlets are, but the ideas are good! Put your personal spin on them.


Chocolate Devil's Food Cake Mix: 7 Good Fun to Make Cakes

Baker's Chocolate Devil's Food Cake: Vintage Ad & Recipe

Today is National Chocolate Cake Day! Celebrate with any chocolate cake that takes your fancy or try this Baker's Chocolate 1940 Devil's Food Cake!

Vintage 1940s Baker's Chocolate Ad for Devil's Food Cake

National Devil's Food Cake Day

Today is National Devil's Food Cake Day. I posted a Devil's Food Cake recipe on National Angel Food Cake Day.  I like that recipe a lot, but my favorite Devil's Food Cake recipe comes from David Lebovitz. It's fabulous!

Want to make cupcakes instead? Here's a great recipe adapted from Martin Howard (The Cupcake Challenge) on the FoodNetwork site.

Chocolate Devil's Food Cupcakes

Ingredients
3/4 cup boiling water
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
6 ounces sweet European butter
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon Madagascar vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
* Ganache, recipe follows
* Violet Buttercream, recipe follows

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Whisk together boiling water and cocoa. Cover and set aside. With a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue creaming until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder and add this mixture, alternately with the buttermilk. Add cocoa and water mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Scoop into cupcake pans (lined or not) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Let cool completely before decorating. Dip tops of cooled cupcakes in the warm ganache and let set. Pipe more ganache on top for decoration.
4. To fill, put buttercream in a pastry bag with a small round tip. Stick tip into the center of each cupcake and pipe in filling. Be careful not to pipe too much or you will break the cupcake. Serve.

Ganache:

8 ounces chocolate
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Chop chocolate and place in a stainless steel or glass bowl. Bring cream and sugar just to a boil in a small saucepan and then pour over chocolate. Whisk together and then stir in butter until melted.

Violet Buttercream:  (I haven't tried this yet, so I'd love to hear what you think)
4 ounces egg whites
6 ounces sugar
8 ounces butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon violet essence
Violet food coloring

Whisk together the egg whites and sugar in a stainless steel bowl. Place bowl in a water bath set over low heat. Whisk occasionally until sugar is dissolved and mixture is very warm, about 150 degrees F. Remove from water bath and whip with a hand-held mixer on high speed until stiff peaks. Lower speed and add the butter in small pieces. Add vanilla and violet essence and mix until smooth. Add violet color, 1 drop at a time, until desired shade is reached. Use to fill cupcakes as directed above.

Angel Food Cake Day: Make it Devil's Food!

I know today is Angel Food Cake Day, but I had to do something devilish. Here's an easy recipe from Diana Rattray at Southern Food for Devil's Food Cake. Enjoy!

Devil's Food Cake
Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (use a high grade cocoa)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups milk, scalded
2 cups cake flour, sifted or stirred before measuring
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
3 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation:
Grease two 9-inch layer cake pans and line bottoms with wax paper. Grease wax paper. Sift the cocoa with 1/3 cup sugar; pour into the milk gradually; stir until well blended. Set aside to cool. Sift together flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, soda, and salt. Add shortening and half of the cooled cocoa and milk mixture. Beat at medium speed of an electric hand-held mixer. Add eggs, vanilla, and remaining cocoa and milk mixture. continue beating for about 2 minutes, scraping bowl with a spatula occasionally. Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes; turn out on racks and peel off paper. Cool and frost devil's food cake.

The original recipe says to frost as desired, but I know it needs Fudge Frosting. You can' have enough chocolate!

Fudge Frosting
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2/3 cup evaporated milk
3 squares (3 ounces) unsweetened baking chocolate (I like Ghirardelli or Scharffen Berger)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, milk, and chocolate; stir to blend well. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture forms a very soft ball when a small amount is dropped into cold water, or about 232° on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; add butter without stirring. Set aside and let cool until bottom of pan is lukewarm, about 1 hour. Add vanilla and beat until frosting is creamy and just begins to hold its shape. Spread quickly on cake before frosting hardens. Makes about 2 cups.

My favorite Devil's Food Cake recipe is from David Lebovitz. Have a look at his recipe and decide which you'll make. He uses Valrhona cocoa powder, and I suggest using Valrhona in the above recipe, too. He also has a great ganache frosting! David Lebovitz is the author of The Great Book of Chocolate (and other books). You should have it on your Chocolate Cookbook shelf!