David Lebovitzes Devil's Food Cake

As I write this, Melbourne and the whole region of Victoria is going overdrive and has gone mad. The Australian Football League (AFL) Grand Finals has just started. And Geelong Football Team has just scored its first goal within the first 10 seconds of the game.

I baked this cake last night but it was a conscious decision on my part to write the blog entry while the game is ongoing to distract me. I couldn't bear the suspense. Its killing me. Argh! And as I write this, I could feel my heart racing wild and can hear the throbbing of my anxious heart...

To say that the whole Melbourne echoes my state is an understatement. The world stops in this side of town and half the population trooped to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and the other half have their eyes glued on their television to watch the best of the best in wild abandon.

Australians love their sports, and to say that they are passionate about it yet again is an understatement. Sports fill their waking hours, literally hogging the limelight anytime and anywhere.

I will always love sports; watching and playing anything under the sun. I might not be "that" good playing anything sporty, but I love to sweat them all out. My little boy say I show more testosterone while watching a game; I would stand up from the bleachers, raise my fist and utter expletives. Hahaha! It came at no surprise that this Grand Finals is eating me slowly...I couldnt watch it. Its too much for me.

Australian Football League or to be more politically correct, Australia rules Football is a league of its own. I have to issue such statement lest I suffer the onslaught of hardcore fans if I compare AFL with American Football. AFL Footballers don't wear all those body cover-ups and its not European football either because its quick and extremely physical (click here to understand the sport). The only common denominator, for layman, is one has to kick  a goal.

I also wanted to introduce you to the latest favourite food blogger/writer of mine, David Lebovitz. The Devil's Food Cake is his version. I have baked several in the past and his version is one of the best thus far.

But my mind and heart is somewhere else at the moment, I couldn't seem to concentrate due to the bloody Grand Finals!

David Lebovitz deserves a blog entry beautifully crafted (as if. hehehe) like his food creations. And so I will write about him in a few.

For the meantime,  let me distract myself out of this quandary; I reckon I'll go and do some cleaning. The suspense is really killing me.

And by the way, I'm for Geelong, no matter what. GO CATS!


*Snagged from http://www.davidlebovitz.com/

For the cake:

9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1½ cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup strong coffee (or water)

½ cup whole or low-fat milk

For the ganache frosting:

10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

½ cup water (or cream)

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter

1. Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.

2. Butter two 9″ x 2″ cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.

3. To make the cake layers, sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.

4. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. (If using a standing electric mixer, stop the mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides to be sure everything is getting mixed in.)

5. Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.

6. Divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

7. To make the frosting, melt the chopped chocolate with the water (or cream) in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

8. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk them into the chocolate until completely melted and the ganache is smooth. Cool until spreadable, which may take about 1 hour at room temperature.

To frost the cake:

Run a knife around the inside of each of the cakes which will help release them from the pans. Tilt one cake out of the pan, remove the parchment paper from the bottom and invert it back onto a cake plate. Spread a good-sized layer of icing over the top. Top with the second cake layer and spread the top and sides with the remaining icing as decoratively as you want.

POSTSCRIPT: GEELONG WON. GO CATS! :))