suemunzlinger's Recipe

Martha Washington's Devil's Food Cake

Category: Copy Cat Recipes (I have not tried all of these recipes)

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1-3/4 cups sugar, divided
1-1/2 cups buttermilk, divided
2 cups cake flour, sifted
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla


1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-15-inch pan or two 9-inch cake pans.

2 Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Add 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup buttermilk, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Cool.

3 Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder, baking soda and salt and sift together three times.

4 Cream butter thoroughly. Add 3/4 cup sugar gradually, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add about a quarter of the flour mixture, mix thoroughly. Add chocolate mixture and blend. Add remaining flour, alternately with buttermilk, a small amount at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla.

5 Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until done. Let cool. When completely cooled, trim edges and cut rectangular cake in half crosswise to make a two-layer cake. Fill and frost with icing of your choice.

from "Capitol Hill Cooks: Recipes from the White House, Congress and All of the Past Presidents," by Linda Bauer