| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 25 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Cook: | 35 min |
| Yield: | 1 (13 by 9-inch) cake, 15 to 20 servings |
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 cup boiling water
- 4 ounces Dutch-process cocoa
- 10 1/2 ounces dark brown sugar
- 5 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 1/2 ounces sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 large whole eggs, at room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- 5 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ounce mayonnaise
- 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
- 8 ounces powdered sugar
- Pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9-inch metal pan with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper so it hangs over the sides of the pan and spray the parchment with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Whisk the boiling water and cocoa powder together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Combine the sugar, flours, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whisk the oil, sour cream, eggs and egg yolks in a large pourable vessel. Add the oil mixture to the cocoa and water mixture and slowly whisk to combine. With the mixer on low speed, add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture over 30 seconds. Continue to beat on low speed for another 30 seconds. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue to beat on low speed until the batter is smooth, 10 to 15 seconds. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake springs back when pressed and reaches an internal temperature of 205 degrees F, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes, and then remove cake from the pan and cool completely before frosting, about 1 hour.
- Beat the butter and mayonnaise in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on high, until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. With the mixer on low, slowly add the melted chocolate. Continue mixing on low speed until all of the chocolate is incorporated, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Turn off the mixer and add one-third of the sugar. Mix on low to combine, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Repeat until all of the sugar has been incorporated. Add the salt and continue to beat until the frosting is smooth and lightens slightly in color, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Use immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 hours or refrigerate for up to a week. Bring to room temperature before using chilled frosting.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 18 servings |
| Calories | 425 |
| Total Fat | 27 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 48 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 31 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Cholesterol | 64 mg |
| Sodium | 159 mg |
Reviews
I followed the recipe EXACTLY, including weighing all my ingredients. I found the cake to be a bit dry and crumbly. I’m thinking maybe I just need to reduce the cooking time. I baked it for 30 mins. The flavor was good. I will try it again.
For those wanting conversions……THERE IS A REASON EVERYTHING IS LISTED IN OUNCES!!!! Wait an extra couple weeks on getting your new phone for the year, and use the money for a kitchen scale. Exact measurements are CRITICAL for baked goods, hence why there are reviews about dryness, small cakes, etc., issues which will not occur using a kitchen scale. You can scoop flour with 2 measuring cups, and you’d be surprised just how much difference there is in the actual amount of flour, despite both filling the cup. That’s why the scale is important. This recipe, when made EXACTLY, and I do mean EXACTLY, as written, will yield one of the most moist, chocolatey, outright sinful cakes imaginable, hence, a real Devil’s food cake.
This is awesome! We had some for breakfast on this National Devil’s Food Cake Day. *grapefruit juice not included*
One note: I don’t normally change ingredients in recipes my first time through, but I made one minor tweak. Instead of regular semi-sweet chips, I found some Espresso chips in my baking aisle, and used those instead. DUDE! The coffee flavor played so well with the rich cake. So devilish…
Alton says on the video – use 4 tsp baking powder, but the recipe calls for 1 tsp baking soda…has anyone used the baking powder?
I found the cake too dry. I followed the recipe exactly, maybe needed less flour/more oil.
Outstanding! My daughter followed the recipe exactly as written and it turned out every bit as good as we expected. The only deviation was that she made it a layer cake using two 9″ round cake pans at my request.
Next time (which will be soon) we will experiment with adding just a touch of espresso powder to either the cake or the frosting, but not both. This cake is not overly sweet to begin with so I think the espresso might enhance the chocolate flavor.
Blech. The cake is not sweet enough. It was perfectly baked and moist. But bitter. I’m talking about the cake by itself (I used *gasp* store bought frosting).
Alton Brown uses a kitchen scale to weigh his ingredients. When he says to use 4 ounces of cake flour….it’s 4 ounces by weight, not 4 ounces in a measuring cup. I’ve made this cake several times and it is most moist when I omit the 5.5 ounces of all-purpose flour and don’t replace it with anything. The batter is thinner but the cake turns out moist and delicious. How I arrived at essentially using less the than half of the recipe’s flour was purely accidental, as I just missed it as I was reading through the recipe and adding the ingredients to the bowl.
Cake was very astringent. Seriously. Was shocked after following the recipe exactly, except for using 2 9x9x2 cake pans. Also, odd texture. I used KA AP and SoftasSilk cake flower. The frosting was yummy, but needed to be doubled. My darling husband liked it because it wasn’t overly sweet, and if it hadn’t made his mouth pucker it would have been great. The different elements of flavors blended harmoniously.
Odd cake, brings new meaning to the term ‘science experiment.’
Turned these into cupcakes. They turned out super moist, but not so chocolately.
And then I made the frosting. It tasted really bad. The texture was nice and everything, but there was something off about the flavor. I’m guessing it’s the mayo in it. Next time I make it, I’ll probably omit that. But despite its flavor, it made the cupcakes taste better.
And then I made the frosting. It tasted really bad. The texture was nice and everything, but there was something off about the flavor. I’m guessing it’s the mayo in it. Next time I make it, I’ll probably omit that. But despite its flavor, it made the cupcakes taste better.