Devil's Food Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream

March/April, my favorite time of the year. No, really - it is! Mainly because of that lovely event known as March Madness. Our team's a contender every year, something I'm oh-so proud of. This year we've battled our way to the Championship Game tomorrow night, and I'm on pins and needles. Maybe this is our year. I'm holding my breath and crossing my fingers, as it's been awhile since my alma mater won the whole thing.

One terrible thing about this year, though, is that it's been so darn busy. There are all the KU games to watch at the local pub with our friends and family, for one thing. Then there was Easter so early this year. And business travel. I've had a potluck or two to attend, but get embarrassed taking pictures at those type of things, so they can't be blogged about. Work's been pretty hectic, too. This all adds up to: there hasn't been a ton for me to blog about. I've been relying on things I've made long ago and have in the queue for some time now.

Because of all this: I've seriously missed my kitchen and baking. So today, I thought, I'll make something just for the heck of it. A cake, that's what I'm making. And something out of a cookbook, maybe one I haven't picked up in awhile. Enter the Devil's Food Cake and Brown Sugar Buttercream from my trusty copy of the Gourmet cookbook. A classic recipe, so says Ruth Reichl, and the buttercream is supposed to be pretty darn good too. Well then: devil's food cake it is. So this afternoon I measured and whisked and frosted to my heart's content. Ah, it was so nice.

I decorated my cake with a chocolate transfer from Fancy Flours, and whisked in some sifted cocoa powder to my leftover buttercream to color the piped border. This is a nice, classic chocolate cake, it's moist and soft with a rounded chocolate flavor (nothing overpowering or too sweet). The buttercream is very good as well - a sweet, thick, and very buttery concoction with a deep brown sugar flavor. A good compliment to the milder cocoa-flavored cake. It's a fantastic basic cake recipe to have in your arsenal, so I really recommend you give it a try.

Oh, yeah - one last thing: Rock Chalk, Jayhawk! GO KU! Here's the madness that was our "main drag", aka Mass St., last night. Can't wait until tomorrow :) Hopefully I run into my fellow Daring Baker Meryl again, who I met for the first time last night in the midst of madness...

Devil's Food Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream

(From The Gourmet Cookbook, 2004)

Ingredients:

Devil's Food Cake:

1 c. boiling water

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)

1/2 c. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 sticks (1 c.) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 c. packed dark brown sugar

3/4 c. granulated sugar

4 large eggs

Brown Sugar Buttercream:

3 large egg whites at room temperature

3/4 tsp. salt

1 c. packed dark brown sugar

1/2 c. water

1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

3 sticks (1 1/2 c.) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened

2 tsp.vanilla

For cake:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter three 8 X 2-in. round cake pans and line bottoms of each with rounds of wax or parchment paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.

Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour and cocoa mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture (batter may look curdled).

Divide batter among pans, smoothing tops. Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean and layers begin to pull away from sides of pans, 20 to 25 minutes total. Cool layers in pans on racks 10 minutes, then invert onto racks, remove wax paper, and cool completely.

Buttercream:

Combine egg whites and salt in a large bowl.

Stir together brown sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over moderately high heat, washing down side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.

When sugar syrup reaches boil, start beating whites with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until frothy, then add lemon juice and beat at medium speed until whites just hold soft peaks. (Do not beat again until sugar syrup is ready.)

Meanwhile, put candy thermometer into sugar syrup and continue boiling until syrup reaches 238–242 F. Immediately remove from heat and pour into a heatproof 1-cup glass measure. Slowly pour hot syrup in a thin stream down side of bowl into egg whites, beating constantly at high speed. Beat meringue, scraping down bowl with a rubber spatula, until meringue is cool to the touch, about 6 minutes. (It’s important that meringue is properly cooled before proceeding.)

With mixer at medium speed, gradually add butter 1 piece at a time, beating well after each addition until incorporated. (If meringue is too warm and buttercream looks soupy after some of butter is added, briefly chill bottom of bowl in a large bowl filled with ice water for a few seconds before continuing to beat in remaining butter.) Continue beating until buttercream is smooth. (Mixture may look curdled before all of butter is added, but will come back together before beating is finished.) Add vanilla and beat 2 minutes more.

To assemble:
Put 1 cake layer, rounded side up, on a cake plate and spread with about 1 cup buttercream. Top with another cake layer, rounded side up, and spread with another cup buttercream. Top with remaining cake layer and frost top and sides of cake with remaining buttercream.