This 120-Year-Old Chocolate Cake Recipe Is Just as Delicious Today

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.

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.

Chocolate Cake for Everyone

• One-Bowl Chocolate Cake
• Chocolate Swiss Roll Cake
• Chocolate Pound Cake
• Black Magic Cake
• Bumpy Cake

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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