Devil's Food Layer Cake

(from "Comfort Food", by Rick Rodgers)

So Joef and I have an ongoing battle about whether or not I like (or rather, don't like) cake. You'd think he'd just take my word for it, except that there have been, on certain occasions, cakes that I've liked, which hurts my case a bit. Take, for example, the cake from McArthur's Bakery in St. Louis that we had at our wedding, which was unbelievably good. That was the first time I actually understood why people crave cake.

Tonight's cake (another cooking first for me) was not McArthur's. But I did like it very much. Now, I only had a small piece, and I'd still choose pie, or something with cheese or bacon, over it. As it stands, however, it looks like Joef can put another tally in his "Julia likes cake" count. Darn him. :)

CAKE
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick, gulp) unsalted butter, plus 2 tbsp (warmed to room temp)
3 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

FROSTING
3 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar (same as powdered sugar, as it turns out)
1 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (warmed to room temp)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup or so heavy cream

Preheat the over to 350. Lightly butter two 9-inch, round cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper. Lightly dust the pans with flour and tap out the excess.

In a small bowl, whisk together the boiling water and cocoa until smooth. Put it in the fridge to let it cool completely. (Word of warning: this will smell delicious. It will taste, however, like burnt-rotten-awfulness. Do not taste it. Even a little bit. Seriously.) In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. In yet another bowl, a large one, beat the sugar and butter together with a handheld mixer on medium-high. I recommend cutting the butter into chunks first. Once the sugar and butter are combined, beat in the eggs one at a time. Then beat in the vanilla and the cooled cocoa mixture. Reduce the speed on the mixer to low and add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk in two parts. Start and end with the flour. (So - flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour.)

Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and smooth the tops. Pop in the oven for about 35 minutes. You'll know you're close when the sides of the cake start to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Remove the cakes and let them cool in their pans for 15 minutes. Run a knife along the inside of each pan to release the cake. Then invert the pans onto a plate, lift away the pans, and peel off the parchment. Turn the cakes right side up and let them cool.

Now you can work on the frosting. In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar and the cocoa. Slice up the second stick (oh my God) of butter and add it to the sugar and cocoa, then mix it all together using the handheld mixer on low. Mix in the vanilla. Finally, mix in the cream gradually, until it makes a spreadable frosting (I ended up adding more than a cup of cream, but I'd start there).

Once the cake is cool, place one of the layers on a plate, then spread the frosting on top to your taste. Place the second layer (the recipe says top side down, which I forgot to do, but which probably would work better for slipping) on top of the other, frosted, layer. Frost the rest of the cake, starting with the top and finishing with the sides.