Cooking for Seven

Monday was my sister’s Birthday. I knew she would like chocolate cake in some form, so I made her this. It is a very good basic chocolate cake recipe for you to play with. Frost with mocha icing and fill with vanilla pudding, or frost with peanut butter frosting, or transform it into a Coffee Toffee Trifle (as we did for my sister’s Birthday), or whatever you please!

My version is slightly healthier (surprise!) than the original recipe. I substituted half of the AP flour with whole wheat, and used a natural sweetener in place of the refined granulated white sugar. And it came out of the pan so easily, even without the use of parchment paper. This is certainly a keeper.

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:: Devil’s Food Cake ::

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Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion

Ingredients:

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks, 6 ounces) butter
• 1 1/2 cups Sucanat, Rapadura or Demerara sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons  pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup (4 ounces) Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• 1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounces) natural cocoa powder
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) milk or water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans, two to three 8-inch round pans, or a 9 x 13-inch sheet cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, and vanilla until fluffy and light, about 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa.
3. Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low, blend 1/2 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, then half the milk, another third of the flour, the remaining milk, and then the remaining flour. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes ( a bit longer for the sheet cake, shorter for the 8-inch pans), or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, and the sides of the cake begin to pull away from the pan.
5. Remove the cakes from the oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to wire racks to cool completely. Wrap the cake in foil and store at room temperature or in the freezer.

Tags: Baking, Cake, Chocolate, Dessert, Whole Wheat