Reviewed: Dec. 27, 2011

Fabulously old school chocolate cake! The negative reviews made me nervous at first, but it turns out beautifully, every time. Strong coffee instead of water, and 2x the chocolate = nom nom nom! It doesn't need frosting, but I'm making it for my daughter's 5th birthday, with pink buttercream.

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Reviewer:

shannonprovatas

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Glendale, California, USA

Reviewed: Nov. 28, 2011

I made this cake exactly as stated except I didn't have white vinegar so I used champagne vinegar and the whole thing just fell apart! Even though I made it with top notch chocolate it tasted like mud! It was my first big baking disaster since I made it on Thanksgiving morning to celebrate my nephews birthday and for the second dessert!! What a mess. The next day I used a Williams Sonoma devils food cake recipe with chocolate frosting from their site and redeemed myself. Better late than never!! I cannot imagine that the vinegar was the culprit...but I'll never know because I won't try the recipe again. Just be warned: Don't substitute any other vinegar for the white vinegar if you make this cake!

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Reviewer:

Hobbycook

Supporting Member (Click to learn more about Supporting Membership)

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Tampa, Florida, USA

Living In: Tarpon Springs, Florida, USA

Reviewed: Jul. 23, 2011

I read several of the reviews before making this and was a little worried but made it anyway. It turned out to be the best I have ever had as far as Devil's Food Cakes. I have save this recipe to use again. I did actually at a tsp of vanilla and I used apple cider vinigar instead of the white vinigar. LOVE IT.

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Reviewer:

Tammy

Reviewed: Jun. 9, 2011

THANKYOU! This cake is wonderfully easy! It only took me about 10 minutes but I didn't have and eggs, so I googled it and it sayed to substitute milk, so I did. So far, it looks INCREDIBLE, smells EVEN BETTER and I can't wait to taste it on sunday- it's going into a 5-layer cake with 3 layers choc, 2 layer strawberry cheesecake topped off with strawberry icing and chocolate covered strawberries..... Happy birthday mom

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Reviewer:

CookieMonster

Cooking Level: Expert

Reviewed: Apr. 19, 2011

Wonderful chocolate flavour, very moist and light.

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Reviewer:

Cupcakes

Reviewed: Apr. 17, 2011

As suggested i used one cup coffee to replace water (decaf) and 6 oz of chocolate. With these changes it is 5 stars.. so Good! I also used the recommended frosting from the description. yum yum yum. Make this with these changes and you will not be dis-sastisfied.

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Reviewer:

~*Morgan*~

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Fort Fairfield, Maine, USA

Living In: Portales, New Mexico, USA

Reviewed: Mar. 28, 2011

I followed the recipe exactly and it smelled amazing as it was baking. However, it turned out extremely dry - it crumbled everywhere....needed milk to simply swallow it. Will not make this again.

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Reviewer:

sstarlin

Reviewed: Mar. 25, 2011

After seeing the high ratings and reading the reviews I thought this was going to be an amazing recipe. I bake a lot and have really good pans that all but guarantee that cakes will turn out. Unfortunately, this one did not. Although I have a pan that distributes heat evenly, i found that the bottom half was starting to become dry before the center was cooked. I finally had to pull it out of the oven. Normally when I read this kind of review I believe the baker did something wrong, but in this case I believe there's something wrong with the recipe. However, the parts that did cook turned out delicious, so I cut the cake in half, cut off the top to make it even, scooped out the uncooked part and made the top the bottom half. I then filled the middle with a mixture of raspberry jam, jello mix and the crumbled remnants of the top of the cake. It turned out quite delicious and didnt waste good ingredients.

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Reviewer:

lara

Reviewed: Feb. 14, 2011

I have to agree with several reviewers on here. You definitely need to add more chocolate (at least eight ounces) and swap the water out with milk. Overall, a great basic chocolate cake, however one that absolutely relies on the frosting. Most cakes are good on their own. This one smells great, but doesn't really deliver that much once eaten. Pick a great frosting and it will be okay. Would I make again? Nah. I'm an avid baker and chocoholic and this did nothing for me.

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Reviewer:

CathyBee

Reviewed: Jan. 2, 2011

I made this cupcakes to take to a New Years Day Party. I altered the recipe by using coffee instead of water and I added a tsp of vanills. They cooked for exactly 15 min. I filled and frosted them with the Fluffly Peanut Butter icing from this site, then topped with chocolate chips! Everyone at the party loves them! Better than the "Funny Bones" of our childhood. Next time I will try frost them with a layer of chocolate gancache with a peanut butter flourish on top! Will definitely make again!

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