Skip to main content
Dessert

Devils Food Cake

A chocolate cake made with cocoa, baking soda, and sour milk, baked in layers and frosted with a shortening and milk filling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Vanilla and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Devils Food Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. Mix baking soda with cocoa powder, then pour hot water over the mixture.

  2. Cream together sugar, shortening, and unbeaten eggs.

  3. Add the cocoa mixture and sour milk to the creamed mixture.

  4. Sift the dry ingredients and add them to the mixture.

  5. Sprinkle in the vanilla.

Bake and fill

  1. Bake in layers in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).

  2. Heat shortening and milk for the filling.

  3. Add the heated mixture to powdered sugar, then beat until creamy.

  4. Add vanilla.

  5. Spread on the cake.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Cocoa powder + vanillatop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  5. Cocoa powder + creamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together826 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Unbeaten eggs are creamed with the sugar and shortening, adding structure and richness to the crumb.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk and cocoa to release gas, helping the cake rise.
Cocoa powder
Provides the chocolate flavor and dark color of the cake.
Flour
Forms the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps tenderize the crumb when creamed with shortening.
Shortening
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.

The step that matters

Mix baking soda with cocoa powder, then pour hot water over the mixture.. Baking soda needs an acid, such as the sour milk, to react and rise. Adding it with the cocoa and hot water helps distribute it evenly so the cake rises uniformly rather than in dense or bitter patches.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Vanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesCoconut PuddingCoconut Pudding26 recipesCoconut CakeCoconut Cake17 recipesCocoa Nut CandyCocoa Nut Candy11 recipes