Devil's Food Cake

Almost there, but not quite...

My quest for the perfect chocolate cake recipe continues. My goal? To bake a chocolate cake that is better than Betty Crocker's Devil's Food Cake Mix. No matter how many chocolate cakes we've had in my house none of them compare to it. It annoys me so much >_<> my loyal bags of flour sitting in my baking cupboard, and yet any time the words chocolate' and 'cake' are mentioned Betty Crocker is all anyone can think of, alhough admittedly it is amaing cake. What makes it so good is the moistness of it, it has the perfect cake texture. I've baked cakes that are just as chocolaty at it, but they haven't got that 'omg, it's squishy good!' quality about them.

The icing reminds me of the cake in 'Matilda'

I came soooo close with this one, but again it just wasn't there. It was damn good chocolate cake though, just the right amount of chocolate, and it was very moist. Plus it was eaten between four people in less than two days, so I'll take that as a compliment. I think this is probably the best chocolate cake I've made so far, and hopefully the standard will keep going up...

Piping sets are so much fun :)

The recipe came from The Australian Women's Weekly 'Chocolate Cakes', a really adorable little book with about 50 cake recipes in it. I can't get over how wonderful all their books are. The recipes are simple to follow, don't involve too many complicated ingredients, and the pictures always make my mouth water. I have to get more of these books - that's the other thing that's so great about them, there are so many different collections. I think I'll buy the 'Cheesecake' or 'Cookie' collection next.
The book suggests baking the cake in two separate deep 20 cm tins to make a tall cake, filled with cream and topped with chocolate icing. I decided to bake it all together in a 23 cm cake tin (mainly because I didn't have two 20 cm ones), and I think this makes for a better shape if you're not planning on filling the cake, which I didn't. I made a LOT of chocolate ganache with the chocolate left over from my melting disaster with the Chocolate Mousse Cake, it's really rich so just covering the cake with it is more than enough, if it was filled it would have been way too much.

An inside look

Recipe: Devil's Food Cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:
180g butter, chopped
385g caster (superfine) sugar
3 eggs
225g self-raising flour
75g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
70g coca powder
3 teaspoons instant coffee powder
1/2 teaspoon red food colouring
125ml water
125ml milk

For the Ganache (this makes a lot):
300g good quality dark chocolate, chopped
200-250 ml cream (depends on how thick you want it)

OR

300 ml cream, whipped
60g dark chocolate, chopped
60g butter, chopped

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/ 350 F. Grease two deep 20cm round cake tins (or one large, deep 23 cm tin); line bases with baking parchment and grease the parchment.
Beat the butter and sugar in a small bowl with a electric mixer until light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl; fold in sifted flours, soda, and cocoa powder with combined coffee, colouring, water, and milk, in two batches. Pour mixture into prepared tins.
Bake in oven for about 45 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire racks to cool.
To make the ganache, melt the chocolate with the cream in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, taking care that the water doesn't boil or touch the bowl. Leave to cool in fridge until mixture reaches desired consistency, stirring occasionally, about 15-20 minutes.
Spread ganache over cake and use excess to pipe decoration.

OR

Join cakes with whipped cream.
Make the chocolate icing. by melting together the chocolate and butter over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature until spreadable. Top cake with icing.

Now how could I not lick the spoon?

Like I said, these was pretty fantastic cake. I think the ganache worked really well with it, and I love the shiny appearance it gives. The chocolate leaf decorations were really fun to make; All you do is paint non toxic leaves with a thin layer of melted chocolate, wait for it to set, and then peel away the leaves. It's not complicated, but I think it gives a professional looking touch ;)
Apologies for the lack of American measurements, they weren't given in the book. But I'm more than happy to look them up if anyone wants them, all you have to do is ask.
Now, here's the part where I need your help; I'm begging for your best chocolate cake recipe, the one that everyone always asks you to bake, the one that is so frakking good (yes, I'm a B.S.G fan) that it makes you want to eat the whole thing. I know I can find a better cake than the Betty Crocker, I just know it...