Devil's food cake is a rich chocolate layer cake that emerged in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. It is characterized by its dark color, high chocolate or cocoa content, and moist texture. It is typically served as a layer cake with either chocolate or white frosting.
Published recipes for devil's food cake begin to appear in American cookbooks in 1902. The origin of the name is uncertain, but it likely relates to the cake's contrast with angel food cake, a light, airy sponge cake.
Devil's food cake recipes evolved throughout the early 20th century. By 1913, the cake had achieved widespread popularity. Many commercial products have been based off of devil's food cake, including cake mixes and snack cakes like Hostess CupCakes and Drake's Devil Dogs.
Etymology
The origin of the name "devil's food cake" is uncertain.[1] The first published recipes for it appear in 1902 in Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book and The New Dixie Receipt Book. According to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, the term likely emerged due to a need to differentiate chocolate-batter cakes from other "chocolate cakes" of the time, which were typically yellow cakes with chocolate frosting. The term may have also been inspired by the culinary use of the word "devilled" to describe rich, dark, or heavily spiced dishes.[2]
Angel food cake, a light, airy sponge cake, had already been popular for several decades; given the dissimilarity between the two, "devil's food" may have been coined in deliberate contrast. The name has inspired humorous comments; one of the first printed recipes declares it to be "Fit for Angels", and another early recipe recommends topping it with divinity frosting.[2]
Description
A Devil's food cake sliced into portions
Devil's food cake is characterized by its moist texture, dark color, and rich chocolate flavor. It is distinguished from other chocolate cakes by its unusually high proportion of chocolate or cocoa, which produces a bolder, more pronounced chocolate taste.[2] Devil's food cake also often contains additional baking soda, which raises the pH level and makes the cake a deeper and darker mahogany color.[3][4]
Traditional recipes call for unsweetened baking chocolate or cocoa powder, flour, butter or other fat, eggs, sugar, and acidic ingredients like buttermilk or sour milk. Many recipes incorporate hot water or coffee as an ingredient, which enhances the chocolate's flavor and contributes to the cake's characteristic moist, tender crumb. The combination of baking soda and acidic ingredients leavens the cake. Recipes with a higher proportion of acidic ingredients can produce a reddish tint through reactions with anthocyanins present in the cocoa. Such variations were sometimes labeled "red devil's food cake" in the 1920s and 1930s.[5][2]
Devil's food cake is usually baked in layers, then frosted. While chocolate frosting is common, the cake is also traditionally paired with white frosting like boiled icing or divinity frosting for visual contrast.[2][5]
History
An illustration of devil's food cake from the 1928 pamphlet "Famous Recipes for Baker's Chocolate and Breakfast Cocoa."
Devil's food cake emerged in the United States in the early 20th century as chocolate became more widely used in American baking. Improvements in cocoa processing in the late 19th century made smoother, better-tasting chocolate and industrially-produced cocoa powder widely available in grocery stores, popularizing the use of chocolate in American cuisine. Chocolate cakes from the 19th century were typically yellow cakes with chocolate frosting. The increased availability of chocolate allowed cooks to incorporate more chocolate into the cake batter, creating devil's food cake.[5][2]
The first recipes were published in 1902 in The New Dixie Receipt Book and Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book by Sarah Tyson Rorer.[2] Early cookbooks often printed recipes for "chocolate cake" and "devil's food cake" side by side; the devil's food cake would usually be differentiated by a greater proportion of chocolate. A 1914 commercial baker's manual called for three ounces of cocoa for chocolate cake, but ten ounces of cocoa for a devil's food cake of a similar size.[2] By 1913, devil's food cake had achieved widespread popularity, appearing in Anna Clair Vangalder's Modern Women of America Cookbook 23 times.[6]
The cake's popularity led to commercial applications beginning in the late 1920s. Following the success of Duff's Ginger Bread Mix in 1929, P. Duff and Sons of Pittsburgh quickly introduced devil's food among its early cake mix offerings.[7] In 1919, the Taggart Baking Company began selling the first commercially produced cupcakes, made using a devil's food cake recipe. The cupcakes would be marketed under the Hostess brand after 1927, and later evolved into the Hostess CupCake known today.[8] Devil's food was also the inspiration for the Devil Dog, a hot dog shaped, cream-filled snack cake, and a precursor to the whoopie pie.[9]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Porcelli, Lesley (2013). "Devil's Food". In Smith, Andrew F. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2nded.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-973496-2.
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