Cakes are EVIL, the DEVIL created them !

"Ted Harvard" quipped:

Well no shit, Sherlock!

Speaking of which, what is the difference between chocolate cake and Devil's Food cake?

Ted...see your medical professional very soon...before your cake falls in the oven.

Cakes have been prepared and baked since the beginning of bread.......

Have you approached the RNC. I'm sure that there is a political office you could fill in the Bible Belt. Rick Santorum can't live forever.

I dont' know the "scientific" difference :-) But to me, a chocolate cake is more moist and flavorful, whereas Devil's food is kinda dry and slightly bland. But those are just my taste buds speaking.

in

Even if I only make Angel's Food Cake??????

I've never thought about this before but I'd hazard the guess that it is the ratio of butter:flour:sugar, by weight. A devil's food cake tends to have more sugar. A ratio of 1:1:2 for a devil's food cake. A typical chocolate layer cake would have closer to a 1:1:1 ratio.

Hmm, now you have me wondering.

It thought it was the pH of the batter, which results in a difference in color between the two.

Technically, a Devil's Food cake is made with natural-process (i.e. non- Dutch) cocoa. It also always uses chocolate frosting. And from what I've experienced, the cake is a specific type, sort of medium-dense and fairly airy - i.e. it's not similar to a flourless chocolate cake, or a sponge cake, or a pound cake.

A chocolate cake is a more broad term and generally covers a cake made with any combination of chocolate, natural-process cocoa, and Dutch cocoa. I personally think it might be best to reserve the term "chocolate cake" to one made specifically with chocolate as opposed to cocoa, but that suggests one would need a term for a cake made with Dutch cocoa. And in addition, there are cakes made with combinations of cocoas and chocolate.

In my experience devils food cake are made with cocoa powder,( either natural or dutched). And if you use even melted dark chocolate) to the recipe then you can start calling the baked cake as chocolate cake.All of these are flour based cakes not flourless cakes. But if using a natural cocoa you have to use more baking soda in order to attain the desired reddish crumb colour of the baked cake( alkaline batter) to qualify it as a devils food cake. You can also use a dutched cocoa and add no (or less )soda at all but use more baking powder instead as the dutch cocoa alkalinity will already provide the desired reddish tinge on the cake crumb.

Roy

Did some research on the web. Here is what I found...

There is no common answer. Some people claim that Devil's Food cake has a high cocoa and fat contents, making it more sinful. Others claim it is the devilishly red hue caused by a reaction between the cocoa and baking soda. Other sources claim it is due to the high cocoa content that gives the black, rich colour associated with "black as the devil."

I think the favourite site I found was the Morris County Library at

It talks a lot about thehistory of cakes and actually has the question "What is the differencebetween chocolate cake and devil's food?"

Isn't it the reverse? Natural-process cocoa is the one that's red from the outset. Dutch cocoa straight from the can or bag is a greyish-brown, and once it's had liquid added becomes almost black in colour - hence the signature black and white of Oreos which are made with Dutch cocoa.

However, it is true to say that with a natural-process cocoa you should lean your leavening agents towards baking soda as it is indeed considerably more acid.

It is just contrary to my past experience. I have used so many kinds of cocoa powder in industrial baking, prepared cake mix formulation. and confectionery cooking. If I compare side by side the cocoa from one variety of bean that is both roasted to the same degree but of different level of dutching process I noticed that as the higher alkalinity level the cocoa tends to be come more reddish in colour. In the opposite , if the cocoa is more acid it ends to be deeper brown than red.. Whenver I inquiere to my supplier and cocoa manufacturer they always send me the dutched item if I want a deeper red colored cocoa powder. and if I want a more brownish colour they send me the natural grade. But they always send me sample shipment that can be a collection of cocoas with different colour and pH rating. And I have to find the one that match my requirements. IF I look at the product specification I can confirm that its either natural or dutched by the declared pH reading of such cocoa powder. Roy

I think his cake fell a long time ago...

Better caked than trolled!!

You must be on that stupid low carb/no carb diet.

G Cook, RD

Why do you think they named them "devil's food cakes"????

Bring 'em on!

Life is too short to not eat cake!

Probably, but you'll be in very good company!