Home Food In 1898 The First Printed Devil’s Food Cake Recipe Appears

In 1898 The First Printed Devil’s Food Cake Recipe Appears

devil's food cake

Observed annually on May 19, National Devil’s Food Cake Day is enjoyed by chocolate cake lovers throughout the country and around the world.

Devil’s Food cake is a heavenly chocolate cake.  It differs from a regular chocolate cake by its darker color and tends to be more moist and airy.  Devil’s Food cake recipes use hot or boiling water as the primary liquid. Cocoa is typically utilized in the batter, as opposed to chocolate, and coffee can be added for a distinctive flavor.  A delicious chocolate frosting usually accompanies the cake.

Recipes for Devil’s Food cakes often appeared alongside recipes for Angel Food cakes.  One of the earliest recipes appeared in the August 10, 1898, edition of the Hagerstown Exponent of Hagerstown, Indiana.

  • Devil’s food cake is generally more moist and airy than other chocolate cakes, and often uses cocoa as opposed to chocolate for the flavor as well as coffee.
  • A similar cake, the red velvet cake, is closely linked to a devil’s food cake, and in some turn of the century cookbooks the two names may have been interchangeable.
  • Devil’s food cake incorporates butter (or a substitute), egg whites, flour (while some chocolate cakes are flourless) and less egg than other chocolate cakes.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Foodimentary