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Devils Food White Out Cake

Devils Food White Out Cake

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Anyone who loves Devils Food cake will surely love this sinful Devils Food White Out Cake.  It is genius!   This recipe is such a chocolatey, moist and light cake which is frosted with a mildly sweet homemade marshmallow fluff.  Yes, marshmallow fluff!  The best part of this Devils Food White Out Cake, is that there is devil’s food cake crumbs pressed all over the outside of the frosting.  The angles are singing.  It is the ultimate party cake.

Devils Food White Out Cake

I always wondered who would pick this outrageous cake for our Tuesdays with Dorie challenge as it is on the cover of the Dorie cookbook.  Stephanie over at Confessions of a City Eater did just that!  I was going to sit this week out but when I saw what the challenge was I knew I had to make it.  The only problem was, I knew Lenny would not want a big gooey cake sitting around the house so I needed a great reason to get baking.  I had the perfect one, my friend Evelyn’s birthday.  What made this challenge even better was that I got to involve MEM in the baking process. 

We made the cake over a two day period since we had school and work schedules to deal with.  MEM helped with the cake making process and we had tons of fun.  From little fingers tasting everything from the chocolate cake batter spattering all over the kitchen and us when I added the hot water on to high of a speed – we just laughed and laughed and they just kept tasting and tasting!

The second part of the cake building process I did on my own, which was too bad because MEM would have loved this part.  The frosting for the cake was a meringue that was made with a hot sugary syrup which you drizzled over the peaked meringue while beating constantly.  The end result was marshmallow fluff! 

To put the cake together, I had to slice each cake in half, leaving 4 layers.  The fun part and the part that MEM would have loved was taking one layer and crumbling it into little crumbs.  Now I know they would have had a great time doing this, I am just not sure how much cake would have been left. The remaining layers were frosted with the fluffy meringue and then the crumbs were sprinkled all over the cake. 

This Devils Food White Out Cake is a great project to do with kids as there is no way around getting messy and making an even bigger mess.  The messier it is the more crumby the cake!

The cake was really good.  Not overly sweet.  Very chocolaty.  Very moist.  Very light.

Maggie eating Devils Food White Out Cake

Maggie, a self-proclaimed *foodie* said the next day that she thought it would be good with chocolate frosting.  I have to agree.  Maybe next time we will add chocolate powder to the meringue, who wouldn’t like chocolate marshmallow fluff!

 

Recipe:  Devil’s Food WhiteOut Cake

Source: Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours p. 247-9
Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

For the cake
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 cup buttermilk or whole milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup boiling water
4 ounces semisweet or milk chocolate, finely chopped, or 2/3 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

For the filling and frosting
1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 large)
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

GETTING READY: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-x-2-inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

TO MAKE THE CAKE: Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugars and continue to beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the melted chocolate. When it is fully incorporated, add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. At this point, the batter will be thick, like frosting. Still working on low speed, mix in the boiling water, which will thin the batter considerably. Switch to a rubber spatula, scrape down the bowl and stir in the chopped chocolate. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with the rubber spatula.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Don’t worry if the tops have a few small cracks. Transfer the cake pans to a rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)

When you are ready to fill and frost the cake, inspect the layers. If the cakes have crowned, use a long serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to even them. With the same knife, slice each layer horizontally in half. Set 3 layers aside and crumble the fourth layer; set the crumbs aside.

TO MAKE THE FILLING AND FROSTING: Put the egg whites in a clean, dry mixer bowl or in another large bowl. Have a candy thermometer at hand.

Put the sugar, cream of tartar and water in a small saucepan and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, cover the pan and boil for 3 minutes. Uncover and allow the syrup to boil until it reaches 242 degrees F on the candy thermometer. While the syrup is cooking, start beating the egg whites.

When the syrup is at about 235 degrees F, begin beating the egg whites on medium speed with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer. If the whites form firm, shiny peaks before the syrup reaches temperature, reduce the mixer speed to low and keep mixing the whites until the syrup catches up. With the mixer at medium speed, and standing back slightly, carefully pour in the hot syrup, pouring it between the beater(s) and the side of the bowl. Splatters are inevitable—don’t try to scrape them into the whites, just carry on. Add the vanilla extract and keep beating the whites at medium speed until they reach room temperature, about 5 minutes. You should have a smooth, shiny, marshmallowy frosting. Although you could keep it in the fridge in a pinch, it’s really better to use it right now.

TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Put a bottom layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or on a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Using a long metal icing spatula, cover the layer generously with frosting. Top with a second layer, cut side up and frost it. Finish with the third layer, cut side down, and frost the sides and top of the cake. Don’t worry about smoothing the frosting—it should be swirly. Now, cover the entire cake with the chocolate cake crumbs, gently pressing the crumbs into the filling with your fingers.

Refrigerate the cake for about 1 hour before serving.

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Stephanie

Saturday 28th of February 2009

Your cake looks fabulous! Thanks so much for baking it!

Jules

Friday 20th of February 2009

The cake looks great! Nice job.

heather b

Friday 20th of February 2009

Great idea to add cocoa powder to the meringue! I bet that would be a delicious treat! Your cake looks fabulous!

The PurpleFoodie

Thursday 19th of February 2009

The cake looks really.good. I like when a cake is not too sweet. I can't wait to have my hands on Dorie's book and whip up all those delights! :D

steph (whisk/spoon)

Thursday 19th of February 2009

what a great birthday cake--perfect! looks like cute little M was happy to help!