It’s a New Year, and a new blog…

I suppose I should make some kind of blog-related New Year’s resolution, but I’m afraid that may jinx the blog to the same fate as all those other resolutions… exercise more, eat less cake (ha! Like that’ll happen). So instead, how about I just make a vague resolution to bake lots and share my recipes, tips and tricks, in a somewhat regular manner?

Now, I’m not one of those people who likes to keep secrets. Well, not when it comes to recipes anyway. One of the things I love most about baking is sharing what I bake with people, and seeing them enjoy it. But there are only so many people I can bake for. So to me, the next best thing is to share the recipes that I love.

I thought I would start off by sharing one of my all-time favourite recipes. See? No secrets here.

This devil’s food cake is quite honestly the best chocolate cake I have ever had. It has a deep dark chocolate flavour, without being too rich. It manages somehow to be both light and fluffy, and incredibly stable. It is just as suited for tiered or carved cakes as it is for splitting and filling with good ol’ whipped cream.

Does it work as cupcakes, I hear you ask? It sure does…

Does it keep well? Yep! As cupcakes it lasts well for several days, and when baked as a cake- split, filled and covered with ganache and then fondant, you can get a good week out of it, following the three-day bake/ganache/fondant timeline, with several days to eat it after the event.

I use this cake as the base for so many different variations. Switch out some of the flour for ground hazelnuts and add a splash of Frangelico with the coffee, ditto for ground almonds and Amaretto. You can leave the coffee out if you’re making it for kiddies (this is my go-to recipe for children’s birthday cakes) and if you prefer a cake with a lighter chocolate taste, use a chocolate that is lower in cocoa solids, or leave out the cocoa powder. You can also switch the vanilla extract for other flavoured extracts or oils.

{Devil’s food cake filled with Neapolitan buttercream – Italian meringue buttercream flavoured with vanilla, chocolate and freeze-dried strawberry powder}

Told ya it was versatile, didn’t I?

And even better, this recipe is great with or without gluten. It’s one of the only recipes where even I would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the gluten-y and gluten-free versions.

This recipe is from Debbie Brown’s Dream Wedding Cakes book. I’ve switched up the sugars and added some cocoa for extra chocolatey-ness, and in the gluten free version I’ve suggested gluten free flours and added Xanthan gum to improve the structure of the cake. {Scroll down further for the gluten free recipe and notes}

If the cake/s are not to be eaten the same day, or are being used in a layered, decorated cake, they will benefit from a light brush with simple syrup. Simply heat together 250g sugar with 250ml water in a small saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved and leave to cool. Before icing cupcakes or filling a cake, brush on some of the syrup with a pastry brush.

{Devil’s Food Cake}

Adapted from the devil’s food cake recipe in Debbie Brown’s Dream Wedding Cakes book.
Makes one 8” cake (approx. 3″ high) or 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

175ml boiling water
1 ½ teaspoons instant coffee powder (optional)
80g dark chocolate (50 – 70% cocoa solids)
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
130g light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
280g plain flour
1 Tablespoon Dutch cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
Pinch of salt
175g sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 160°C for cakes, or 180°C for cupcakes. Line the base and sides of an 8″ round cake tin with baking paper, or line two 12-hole muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. Measure the boiling water in a heatproof bowl or jug and stir in the coffee. Break or chop up the dark chocolate into small pieces and add to the water and coffee, stirring until the chocolate melts. Leave to cool.
3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
4. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if you are using a hand-held mixer), beat the softened butter, caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla together on medium speed until very light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs one at a time. The mixture may look a little curdled at this stage.
5. Turn the mixer down to low speed and add the flour mixture and the chocolate mixture alternately, beating briefly between additions to combine. I usually spoon in the flour with one hand while pouring the chocolate mix in with the other, but you can add them alternately if you find that easier. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the sour cream and mix on low speed until just combined.
6. Pour into lined cake tin or cupcake liners.
7. Bake for 1 ¼ – 1 ½ hours for an 8” cake, or approximately 18 minutes for cupcakes. The cakes will spring back when touched lightly with a finger, and a skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean.
8. Cupcakes can be removed from the muffin pans straight away, but whole cakes benefit from being left to cool completely overnight in the tin before turning out.

{Devil’s Food Cake – Gluten Free}

Adapted from the devil’s food cake recipe in Debbie Brown’s Dream Wedding Cakes book.
Makes one 8” cake (approx. 3″ high) or 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

175ml boiling water
1 ½ teaspoons instant coffee powder (optional)
80g dark chocolate (50 – 70% cocoa solids)
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
130g light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
280g gluten free plain flour *
1 ½ teaspoons Xanthan gum
1 tablespoon Dutch cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
Pinch of salt
175g sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 160°C for cakes, or 180°C for cupcakes. Line the base and sides of an 8″ round cake tin with baking paper, or line two 12-hole muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. Measure the boiling water in a heatproof bowl or jug and stir in the coffee. Break or chop up the dark chocolate into small pieces and add to the water and coffee, stirring until the chocolate melts. Leave to cool.
3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, Xanthan gum, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
4. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if you are using a hand-held mixer), beat the softened butter, caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla together on medium speed until very light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs one at a time. The mixture may look a little curdled at this stage.
5. Turn the mixer down to low speed and add the flour mixture and the chocolate mixture alternately, beating briefly between additions to combine. I usually spoon in the flour with one hand while pouring the chocolate mix in with the other, but you can add them alternately if you find that easier. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the sour cream and mix on low speed until just combined.
6. Pour into lined cake tin or cupcake papers.
7. Bake for 1 ¼ – 1 ½ hours for an 8” cake, or approximately 18 minutes for cupcakes. The cakes will spring back when touched lightly with a finger, and a skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean.
8. Cupcakes can be removed from the muffin pans straight away, but whole cakes benefit from being left to cool completely overnight in the tin before turning out.

The gluten free version of this cake will stand up to some light carving for shaped cakes. I reccommend chilling it before carving, and filling and coating in chocolate ganache before fondant for stability.

*A quick note on gluten free flour

I use a combination of gluten free flours, mixing them as I go depending on the recipe I’m making. I’ve got a proper post on the flours I use in the works, but in the meantime you can try this recipe with a gluten free flour mix. For this cake I use the five gluten free flours that I use most often – tapioca, white rice flour, brown rice flour, cornflour/cornstarch and potato flour, split up like this:

80g tapioca flour
50g white rice flour
50g brown rice flour (or use another 50g of the white rice flour if you can’t get the brown)
50g cornflour/cornstarch
50g potato flour

Happy Baking!

~Natalie