A Thing of Beauty

A thing of beauty...... 

is a joy for about ten minutes when you are a teenage boy/almost grown man/bigger than me person. 

Nothing like a little homemade Devil's Food Cake on a summer day.  Make sure you serve this with copious amounts of vanilla ice cream. 

Courtesy of The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook 

Devil's Food Cake 

 

 3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoons salt

3 large egge, sepparated, at room temperature 

1/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 

2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar 

8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted 

2 cups milk 

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease and lightly flour two 9x2 inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with waxed paper. 

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, the baking powder, tha baking soda, and the salt.  Set aside. 

Lightly beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon colored, about 2 minutes. 

In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Add the egg yolks, beating until well combined.  Add the chocolate, mixing until well incorporated.  Add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the milk and the vanilla extract, beating after each addition until smooth.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on the high speed of an electric mixer until soft peaks form.  Gently fold into the batter.  Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean.  Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes.  Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.  When cake has cooled, ice between the layers, then ice top and sides of cake.  

Chocolate Buttercream Icing 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft 

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon milk 

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled to lukewarm 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar 

In a medium sized bowl, beat the butter until creamy, about 3 minutes.  Add the milk carefully and beat until smooth.  Add the melted  chocolate and beat well.  Add the vanilla extract and beat for 3 minutes.  Gradually add the sugar and beat until creamy and of desired consistency.