Martha Washington’s Devil’s Food

Servings: 1
Ingredients:

4 oz Unsweetened Chocolate
1 c  Sugar
1/2 c  Buttermilk or sour milk
1/2 c  Cake Flour; sifted
1 1/2 ts Baking Powder
3/4 ts Soda
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 c  Butter or shortening
3/4 c  Sugar
3    Eggs; well beaten
1 c  Buttermilk or sour milk
1 ts Vanilla

Melt chocolate over boiling water; add 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup buttermilk
and stir over boiling water until sugar is dissolved. Cool. Sift flour
once, measure, add baking powder, soda, and salt and sift together three
times. Cream butter thoroughly add 3/4 cup sugar gradually, and cream
together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add about 1/4 of
flour mixture, mix thoroughly; add chocolate mixture and blend. Add
remaining flour, alternately with buttermilk, a small amount at a time;
beat very thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla. Bake in greased
15×9x2- inch pan, in a moderate oven ( 35O degrees F.) 30 minutes, or until
cake is done. When cold, trim edges, cut in half crosswise, and put
together as a two-layer cake, matching edges carefully. Spread tops and
sides with Martha Washington’s Fudge Frosting (See recipe). Or add chopped
nut meats to part of frosting and use as filling. This recipe has been
adapted to modern measurements from Marthas Washington’s own recipe. It is
an excellent choice for February parties or for any occasion where a deluxe
cake is desired.

Kate Smith Collection, (as adapted from Martha Washington’s recipe)
Published 1940 by General Foods Corp. (Courtesy of Barb Day)