Triple-Layer Devil's Food Cake

By norsegal8

This is a moist, fine-textured, intensly chocolate cake with a flavor strongly reminiscent of the beloved, deeply cocoa cake of childhood.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (nonalkalized, such as Hershey's)
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper, grease the parchment and flour the pans.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and boiling water until smooth and cool to room temperature.

3. In a second medium bowl lightly combine the eggs, about 1/4 of the cocoa mixture, and the vanilla.

4. In a large mixing bowl, combinethe remaining dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and remaining cocoa mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingrenients are moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes to aerate and develope the cake's structure. Scrape down the sides.

5. Gradually add the egg mixture to the batter in three bathes, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the sides.

6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans will be about 1/2 full. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean, and the cakes springs back when lightly pressed in the center. The cakes should start to shrink away from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven. Let the cakes cool in the pans on racks. Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula and invert onto greased metal racks. To prevent splitting, reinvert so that the tops are up and cool completely before wrapping airtight.