The crumb is tender, the filling and frosting luscious. When I made it one Friday, I expected my children, resident food critics much in top birthday cakes near me 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.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list. Forget the name, this cake is heavenly. 8inch round sandwich tins with baking parchment and butter the sides. Whisk to mix, then set aside. I find this easiest with a freestanding mixer, but by hand wouldn’t kill you. 1 egg, quickly followed by a scoopful of flour mixture, then the second egg.
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. 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. 10 minutes, before turning the cakes out to cool. 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.
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. The cake layers can be baked 1 day ahead and assembled before serving: wrap tightly in clingfilm and store in an airtight container. Iced cake will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container in a cool place. Un-iced cake layers can be frozen on the day of baking, each wrapped in a double layer of clingfilm and a layer of foil, for up to 3 months.
Defrost for 3-4 hours on a wire rack at room temperature. You may prefer to prepare this the other way round from me, and get the frosting underway before you make the cakes. While you’re making it, don’t panic. Made it for Halloween exactly as written. Watch the 30 minute mark for the cake. And everybody thought it was fantastic. This for me in my 86th year.
I’m guessing if I can make, anyone can make it. Just made as my Easter cake and added a few decorations. I watched and love you for years. I love your outlook of life, way you cook and how you inspire everyday people how to eat and cook. I’ve made this scrumptious cake numerous times for birthdays and it always works well. Sometimes I’ve done 3 layers for a showstopper ! I have loved this recipe for years!
It never fails and always tastes amazing. My son recently baked it for his 7th birthday cake. This is my go to recipe for a quick, feel good cake to meet the demands of little ones and DH. Given our warm weather I always pop the frosting into to fridge for a bit and then it’s really easy to work with.
After a second attempt in making this cake, I started making the frosting first, as the frosting takes ages to set. After it had been cooled, I put the frosting into the fridge. Do this process first, because you’ll have a guaranteed perfect spreadable frosting once if comes out the fridge and ready to spread. The cake is light and moist.
A very delicious devil’s food cake. Another turn to recipe in our household, and my other half can do it too! Yes its very chocolaty but the cake itself is light. After reading mixed comments, I wasn’t sure how the cake would turn out, but it was sooo good!