Easy Devil's Food Cake Recipe

Name: This 120-Year-Old Chocolate Cake Recipe Is Just as Delicious Today
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups (180ml) brewed coffee; 10 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter; 1 cup (85g) cocoa powder; 1 3/4 cups (373g) light brown sugar; 3 large eggs; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature; 1 1/2 cups (180g) powdered sugar; 1/4 cup (21g) cocoa powder; 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 cup (85g) chopped semi-sweet chocolate or chocolate chips, melted and cooled; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 tablespoons milk

Why Make This

This sheet cake version of devil's food cake combines an easy preparation with a rich chocolate flavor and moist texture.
Blooming cocoa powder in hot coffee intensifies the chocolate flavor in the cake batter.
For a layer cake, divide the batter between two 9-inch pans, and double the frosting for full coverage.

Finding a Drake’s Devil Dog in my lunchbox at elementary school was almost as good as waking up to a snow day. It’s a popular East Coast snack cake of two bone-shaped Devil’s food cakes sandwiched with a thick white frosting, like an elongated whoopie pie. It ranked pretty high on the school lunch trading hierarchy, not that I ever gave it up.

My interest in cooking and baking took off in middle and high school, and I learned by cooking my way through the classics. Once I made a devil’s food cake at home, it blew those Devil Dogs out of the water. I used chocolate frosting for the ultimate chocolate cake, another improvement over the white frosting in the Devil Dogs.

I recently revisited this cake for a dinner with friends and decided to make it simpler but in no way less chocolatey. By making a sheet cake, I didn't need to plan for any assembly before the dinner, and there would still be plenty of cake to share. I mixed the cake in one bowl and frosted with a thick, fudgy frosting right in the pan. it was so easy and everyone loved it.

What Is Devil’s Food Cake?

Devil's food cake is an extra rich, extra chocolatey chocolate cake. With a large amount of cocoa, the cake is richer, darker, and fudgier than your standard chocolate cake.

A devil’s food cake recipe was first published at the turn of the 20th century. Most chocolate cakes before this time were actually yellow cakes frosted with a thick chocolate paste. Devil's food cake was one of the first cakes where the cake itself was made with chocolate, not just the frosting.

It originally used melted chocolate, milk, and egg yolks, but during the Great Depression it evolved to use cocoa powder, coffee, and whole eggs. I prefer the updated version for the stronger chocolate flavor from blooming the cocoa powder in hot coffee, and there’s no need to separate the eggs.

slice of devil's food cake on a plate with a piece broken off using a fork, and in the surroundings, another slice of cake on a plate and a table napkin — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

How To Make This a Two-Layer Cake

While a sheet cake cuts down on assembly time, you can still bake this as a layer cake. To make a two-layer cake, divide the batter evenly between two 9-inch round cake pans greased and lined with parchment. Bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

The frosting makes just enough for a naked cake (frosted middle and top). To frost the entire cake, double the frosting.

Choosing a Frosting

I like the frosting here because it’s fudgy and very chocolatey, but swapping it out is an easy way to customize this cake. If you don’t want to give up on chocolate but don’t feel like melting chopped chocolate, you can make this easy chocolate buttercream frosting.

This easy vanilla buttercream would be the closest to the filling in a Devil Dog. Devil’s food cake is a predecessor to red velvet cake, so cream cheese frosting wouldn’t be out of place. The most decadent option is to skip the frosting and top the cake with ganache instead.

slice of devil's food cake on a plate — Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Chocolate Cake for Everyone

Easy Devil's Food Cake

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 50 mins

Servings 10 to 12 servings

Yield 1 (9x13-inch) cake

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

For the cake

1 1/4 cups (180ml) brewed coffee
10 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter
1 cup (85g) cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups (373g) light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the frosting

1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (180g) powdered sugar
1/4 cup (21g) cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (85g) chopped semi-sweet chocolate or chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Grease a 9x13-inch cake pan generously with butter or baking spray.
Bloom the cocoa:

To make the cake, heat the coffee and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat just until the butter melts. Take the pan off the heat.

Pour the coffee and butter mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until completely smooth; the mixture will thicken slightly.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
Make the batter:

Add the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract to the cocoa mixture and whisk until fully combined.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use the whisk to gently stir the batter until combined. The batter will be thick, like hot fudge sauce.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
Bake:

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Let the cake cool to room temperature in the pan set on a wire rack.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
Make the frosting:

In a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt until fully combined and smooth. To prevent a cloud of sugar and cocoa, start on low speed and then increase to medium speed. It may seem powdery at first, but after a minute or two, it will come together.

Add the melted chocolate and continue mixing until the chocolate is fully incorporated, pausing to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Pour in the milk and vanilla extract and beat to combine, about 30 seconds. The frosting should be fairly thick, but you can thin it with more milk if needed, adding 1 tablespoon at a time.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
Frost the cake:

Use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the frosting over the top of the cake.

Store the cake, covered tightly, for up to 3 days at room temperature or in the fridge.

Love the recipe? Leave us stars and a comment below!

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
493	Calories
22g	Fat
71g	Carbs
6g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 10 to 12
Amount per serving
Calories	493
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 22g	28%
Saturated Fat 12g	62%
Cholesterol 92mg	31%
Sodium 263mg	11%
Total Carbohydrate 71g	26%
Dietary Fiber 3g	10%
Total Sugars 49g
Protein 6g
Vitamin C 0mg	0%
Calcium 81mg	6%
Iron 5mg	27%
Potassium 124mg	3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.