Found this amaaziingg recipe on this blog *click* and made a few changes, some accidental some not. The following is taken directly from the link, anything I did differently will be highlighted in red.
Devil's Food Cake
Ingredients
1/3 cup dutch-processed cocoa
1 tsp instant espresso powder
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup boiling water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 canola oil
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 jumbo eggs, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Note: Makes enough for two 9-in round cake pans
Lightly grease your cake pans, line bottoms with parchment paper, then grease again. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper. Set aside.
Set your cup of water to boil. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cocoa, espresso powder, and chocolate. Pour the boiling water into the mixture and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir in the vanilla extract. Allow the mixture to cool, then stir in the buttermilk.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and oil together until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugars. Then, beat in the eggs one at a time. Add one third of the reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined. Beat in half of the chocolate-buttermilk mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, before adding in another third of the flour mixture. Add the rest of the chocolate-buttermilk mixture, beating until just combined. Last, beat in the remaining flour mixture, beating until just combined.
Pour batter into prepared pans, and spread evenly. Pans should be about half-way full. Bake layers for 25-30 min, until a tester inserted into the middle of both layers comes out clean. Allow layers to cool.
Chocolate Mousse Buttercream
Ingredients
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp dutch-processed cocoa
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
6 sticks cold unsalted butter (Note: the frosting will emulsify more easily if the butter has been allowed to soften just a bit)
10 oz semi-sweet melted chocolate
(1/2 or 1/3 the above recipe if you don't like to overload your cake with icing)
Fill a large saute pan with water, and set to simmer over medium-high heat. While the water heats up, whisk the eggs, sugar, and cocoa together in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Once the water is simmering, place the mixing bowl into the water. Whisk the egg-sugar-cocoa mixture constantly until the mixture becomes thick, and the sugar is completely dissolved.
Remove the mixing bowl from the simmering water, and return it to the stand mixer. Whisk on medium-high speed for about 10 min, until the bowl is cool to the touch. The mixture will be light, fluffy, and will just have reached the soft-peak stage. Once cool, lightly mix in the vanilla and salt.
While the egg-mixture is being whisked, unwrap the sticks of butter from their original paper wrappers, and rewrap them in plastic wrap. Beat them with a rolling pin until they become a little more malleable. Once the egg-mixture has been fully mixed, add in the sticks of butter, about 2 tbsp at a time, with the mixer at medium-high speed. The frosting will appear curdled at first, but keep beating until it becomes smooth and shiny. It may take some extra time for the frosting to smooth out, but keep going until the butter is completely emulsified. Once it has reached its proper consistency, add in the melted chocolate to taste. Fold it in lightly, until the chocolate is fully incorporated.The amount of brown sugar used was reduced to 3/4 cups, which was the right decision as the cake turned out to be just the right sweetness with the already sweet buttercream frosting.
The recipe for the chocolate mousse buttercream I found had too much leftovers, even after I halved it so 1/3 the recipe would be best, unless you're one for loads of icing on your cake.
Other than that, this recipe's a keeper! Give it a try and let me know how it goes.
I'll be making a Tiramisu cake this weekend for my family when they come over so that should be up next :)
