Devil's Food Cake
If you're looking for the right disguise for getting whole grains into the fussiest eater, this is the place to start. You've heard a lot about the antioxidant properties of chocolate—not that we need a reason to indulge—but isn't it nice to know that chocolate can now be even better for you?
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks, 6 ounces) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (7½ ounces) packed light or dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup (5¼ ounces) superfine or granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups (5 ounces) whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup (4¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (3 ounces) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (8 ounces) plain low-fat or whole-milk yogurt
- ¾ cup (6 ounces) water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the pan or pans of your choice or line with parchment paper.
For cupcakes, lightly grease two muffin tins or line with papers and coat the papers with nonstick spray.
Cream together the butter, sugars and salt in a large mixing bowl till fluffy and light, at least 5 minutes. Stop to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl at least once during that time.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa and baking soda. If lumps remain, sift or strain the mixture.
Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, beating well (at least a full minute) after each addition, and stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl before adding the next egg.
Mix in the vanilla.
Add half the flour mixture and mix until evenly combined.
Add the yogurt and water, and mix again.
Add the remaining flour and mix, and stop to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl once more to make sure the batter is evenly moistened.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s).- Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes for layers, 35 to 40 minutes for a sheet cake.
- The cake is done when it begins to pull away from the side of the pan, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Place on a rack to cool completely before frosting.
- For devil's food cupcakes, line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake papers. Coat the insides of the papers with nonstick spray. Preheat the oven and prepare the batter as directed above. Scoop the batter into the prepared pans, using ¼ cup for each cupcake (a muffin scoop is a great help with this). Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes in the middle of the pan comes out clean, 22 to 24 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, before removing the cupcakes from the pan and returning to the rack to cool completely.
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