Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Spiderweb

Name: Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Spiderweb
Prep time: 5 h
Cook time: 5 h
Total time: 5 h
Yield: 10
Cuisine: Global
Ingredients: 1 teaspoons baking soda; 296 milliliters packed dark brown sugar; 3 larges egg whites; 4 larges eggs, warmed in very warm water 10 minutes; 473 milliliters all-purpose flour; 177 milliliters granulated sugar; 2 Tbsps instant espresso powder (optional; see cooks note, below); 118 milliliters milk; 1 teaspoons salt; 237 milliliters semisweet chocolate chips; 355 milliliters sugar; 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened; 177 milliliters unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process); 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 237 milliliters boiling-hot water; 6 Tbsps water

Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Spiderweb might be just the dessert you are searching for. This recipe covers 12% of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. This recipe makes 10 servings with 692 calories, 9g of protein, and 28g of fat each. A mixture of baking soda, cocoa powder, salt, and a handful of other ingredients are all it takes to make this recipe so tasty. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes roughly 5 hours.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Butter cake pans, then line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.

Ingredients you will need

Butter

All Purpose Flour

Equipment you will use

Baking Paper

Oven

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

Ingredients you will need

Baking Soda

All Purpose Flour

Salt

Equipment you will use

Whisk

Bowl

Whisk together boiling-hot water and cocoa in another bowl until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla.

Ingredients you will need

Vanilla

Cocoa Powder

Water

Milk

Equipment you will use

Whisk

Bowl

Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Butter

Equipment you will use

Hand Mixer

Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.

Ingredients you will need

Cocoa Powder

All Purpose Flour

Egg

Divide batter among pans, smoothing tops.

Bake, switching position of pans halfway through, until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pans, 20 to 25 minutes.

Equipment you will use

Oven

Cool cakes in pans on racks 20 minutes, then turn out onto racks to cool completely.

Trace a 9-inch circle on a sheet of parchment paper, then draw a spiderweb inside circle. Next to web, draw a 2-to 3-inch spider. Turn drawings over onto a baking sheet.

Equipment you will use

Baking Paper

Baking Sheet

Melt chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring. Cool slightly, then transfer to pastry bag. Pipe chocolate onto web, beginning with spokes, and onto spider on parchment, then freeze until firm, about 1 hour.

Ingredients you will need

Chocolate Chips

Chocolate

Water

Equipment you will use

Pastry Bag

Sauce Pan

Bowl

Put frosting ingredients in a heatproof large bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Beat with handheld mixer at low speed until mixture is warm and sugar has dissolved. Continue to beat at high speed until thick and fluffy, 7 to 10 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Frosting

Sugar

Water

Equipment you will use

Blender

Bowl

Pot

Remove bowl from heat and beat frosting until cooled slightly, 5 to 10 minutes more.

Ingredients you will need

Frosting

Equipment you will use

Bowl

Place a cake layer on a serving plate.

Spread top with some of frosting. Top with another cake layer and spread with some of frosting, then top with final cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting.

Ingredients you will need

Frosting

Spread

Cut off portion of parchment with spider and reserve. Invert web on parchment onto cake and carefully peel off paper. Peel off parchment from spider and put spider on web.

Let cake stand at room temperature until chocolate decorations have softened.

Ingredients you will need

Chocolate

•Cake layers can be made 2 days ahead and kept, well wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature, or 1 week ahead and frozen.•Chocolate decorations can be made 1 day ahead and frozen.•You can substitute 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract for the espresso powder in the frosting.•The egg whites in the frosting may not be fully cooked.•Cake can be assembled and decorated 4 hours ahead and chilled.

Ingredients you will need

Vanilla Extract