For the 100th Orange Skillet Post, I've decided to post a recipe that's truly special. This cake has quickly become one of my very favorite cakes and if you try it, you will love it, too.
Back in April my friend, Nate, sent me a link to this recipe that was listed on the New York Times website. I knew that I had to immediately try it. The cake itself is pretty straight forward. Three layers of delicious devil's food. The recipe called for preparing the cake pans a little differently than I've done before, though. I have never used cocoa powder to prepare the cake pans. It worked pretty well, but was a little more tedious than using flour. I highly recommend following the directions of putting the parchment paper in the bottom of the cake pan. I did this the first time and each layer came out like a dream. The second time I made this cake, I didn't and they were a little fussy and I had one almost fall apart.
There are two frostings for this cake. The Black Pepper Buttercream goes between the layers and the Chocolate Fudge Frosting covers the outside of the cake. Both of these are absolutely essential in making this cake wonderful. I had a lot of trouble with the original recipe for the Black Pepper Buttercream and was forced to modify it to make it a little easier and a lot less fussy. I know what most of you might be thinking, "black pepper?" I thought it too, but the pepper on enhances the chocolate flavor. You don't even taste the black pepper, but it really does bring out the chocolate flavors. I will attach the link to the original recipe so you can compare the two if you like. The original buttercream was made with an egg white base, but my version uses a milk and flour base.
In this recipe, you'll notice that made of the ingredients have weights beside them. The original recipe had weight measurements as well as volume measurements (which is what most are used to). If you have a food scale, it is so much easier (and faster) to weigh your ingredients rather than to measure by volume. It's also a more exact measurement. A few years ago my friend, Cindy, told me she did this and it was really useful. I bought a scale and she was right. I have written in weight measurements on a lot of my baking recipes. I find it especially useful for ingredients like flour and butter that require more than one scoop or stick to complete the recipe.
The buttercream also calls for the seeds of one vanilla bean. If you never done this before, no worries, it's very simple. All you have to do is slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Then, using the blade of your knife, scrape the seeds off of each half. Once you have done it, it seems much easier than you were probably expecting.
The fudge recipe requires that it be whipped while sitting the bowl in an ice bath. The best way to do this is to find two "nesting" bowls. I found that metal bowls work best. I bought the stainless steel set from pampered chef several years ago and they worked perfectly. In the large bowl, fill it about halfway with ice. Pour a little warm water over the ice to begin the melting process. In the smaller bowl, you will have your chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla. Once you pour your warmed cream mixture over the chocolate, place the smaller bowl into the large bowl. The ice water will chill the mixture as you whisk it with your handheld mixer. The fudge will lighten in color and fluff up like any other frosting.
Devil’s Food Cake with Black
Pepper Buttercream
Devil’s Food Cake
10
Tbs. butter, unsalted, softened (140 g)
2/3
cup cocoa powder, natural & unsweetened (70 g)
¾ cup
whole milk
2
cups cake flour (200 g)
1 ½
tsp. baking soda (10 g)
½
tsp. baking powder (3 g)
½
tsp. salt, more as needed (3 g)
1 ¾
cups sugar, granulated (350 g)
3
large eggs
2
tsp. vanilla extract
Black Pepper Buttercream
4 ½
Tbs. flour, rounded
1 ½
cups whole milk
1 ½ cup
sugar, granulated (300 g)
Large
pinch of kosher salt
3
sticks plus 2 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened
1
vanilla bean pod, split with seeds scraped
2
tsp. course ground black pepper (10 g)
Fudge Frosting
1 ½
cups sugar, granulated (300 g)
1 cup
heavy cream
Pinch
kosher salt
6 oz.
unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped (170 g)
8
Tbs. butter, unsalted, diced (112 g)
2
tsp. vanilla extract
Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease 3 (8-inch) round baking pans, line the bottoms of each with a round of parchment
paper and grease the paper. Use a little cocoa powder to coat the insides of
the pans, rotating pans so the cocoa comes up the sides, then tap out excess.
In
a small bowl, whisk together cocoa powder and 2/3 cup boiling water. Whisk in
milk. In a separate bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking soda, baking powder
and salt.
In
a large mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar
until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, until incorporated. Beat in vanilla.
With the mixer running on low speed, beat in a third of the dry ingredients,
followed by half the cocoa mixture. Add remaining portions, alternating between
two mixtures. Beat until smooth.
Divide
batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake until the centers of the cakes are firm
to the touch, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10
minutes; turn them out onto the rack to cool completely. (Peel off parchment
paper if it sticks to the cakes.)
Buttercream: Fill a medium pot halfway with
water (or use a double-boiler) and bring to a simmer. In a heatproof bowl that
fits over pot, whisk together flour, milk and salt. Cook, whisking constantly,
until the mixture resembles oatmeal. Transfer to mixing bowl and chill. Using
mixer, whip mixture and beat in butter a little at a time, until the frosting
is smooth and spreadable. Beat in vanilla bean seeds and pepper.
Using
a serrated knife, slice each cake in half horizontally. Place one bottom layer
on a large platter or cake stand. Top evenly with a thin layer of buttercream.
Repeat, alternating between cake and frosting, ending with a layer of cake.
Cover cake loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare fudge
frosting. (Cake can rest in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.)
Fudge: In a medium saucepan over
medium heat, combine sugar, heavy cream and salt. Simmer, stirring
occasionally, until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Scrape mixture
into a bowl. Stir in chocolate, butter and vanilla until smooth. Set bowl over
a larger bowl filled with ice. Use a hand mixer or an immersion blender with
the whisk attachment to whip until mixture is thick and cool, about 5 minutes.
Spread frosting over the top and sides of the cake.
NOTE Measurements for dry ingredients are given by weight for
greater accuracy. The equivalent measurements by volume are approximate.
This cake is baked in three layers, but frosted in six layers. When you're cutting your three layers in half it helps to have a long serrated bread knife. Make sure you have a nice flat surface. I usually keep my free hand on top of the layer to help me judge the thickness as I'm cutting through. You can also buy a special device for this task that helps to cut layers evenly, but I really don't feel that it warrants its own tool. Just go slowly and remember that frosting can glue it back together. The beauty of having a cake with this many layers is that you almost get more frosting than cake in each slice.
This is also a very tall cake. It will not fit into my glass cake stand. My $5.00 Rubbermaid cake carrier fits it nicely, though. Sometimes, I put a 'cake circle' under the cake so I can move it if I need to. It's just a small piece of cardboard. This allows you to store your cake in a big enough container and when you're serving the cake, you can transfer it to your pretty glass server.
If you don't believe that this is an amazing cake, give it a try and let me know how it turns out. This is a link to the original recipe that I got from the New York Times. Just be aware that I have modified it from that recipe so it won't match up.
Remember to comment, share and enjoy your delicious Devil's Food Cake!!
