Devil's food cake

Devil's food cake is a rich, chocolate layer cake. Devil's food cake is aptly considered a counterpart to angel cake, that is the two cake types are very different: aside from being chocolate-flavored, devil's food cake incorporates butter (or a substitute) and far less egg. Both cakes were introduced in the United States in the 20th century. The recipe for this cake was first printed in 1905. Devil's-food cake is a type of butter cake. Unlike chocolate cakes using only cocoa, though, the inclusion of melted chocolate gives devil's food cake a higher fat content. Real chocolate is typically what distinguishes a 'devil's food cake' from a chocolate cake. The cake is usually paired with a rich chocolate frosting.

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 interchangable. When used in cakes, baking soda 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.

References

Oxford Companion to Food (1999), "Devil's food cake", p. 248

External links

• Food Timeline history of cakes, including Devil's Food Cake
• Devil's Food cake recipe on ochef.com
• Devil's Food cake recipe on scharffenberger.com