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Devil's food cake

This has to have been created by the devil because it's so chocolatey, rich and delicious you won't want to share it!

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Serves: 12

What you need:

• 125 g (4 oz) butter, at room temperature
• 250 ml (8 fl oz) milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 225 g (8 oz) plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 50 g (2 oz) cocoa
• 250 g (9 oz) Billington's Light Muscovado Sugar
• 3 x eggs

For the frosting

• 325g /12oz Billington's Golden Caster Sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 egg whites
• Holly leaf, dipped in chocolate to decorate

What you do:

1. Grease and base line 2 x 20 cm (8 inch) sandwich tins with non-stick baking paper. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C/gas mark 5
2. Pour the milk into a jug and add the lemon juice.
3. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder.
4. Cream together the butter and half the Light Muscovado Sugar until soft and fluffy.
5. Gradually whisk in the eggs, then whisk in the rest of the Light Muscovado Sugar.
6. Add soured milk, then fold in the flour mixture until smoothly combined.
7. Spoon equally into the prepared cake tins and level over the surface of both.
8. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes until risen, springy to the touch and shrinking away from the edges of the tin.
9. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes then upturn the cakes onto a wire rack to cool.
10. For the frosting, put the sugar, cream of tartar and egg whites into a large bowl. Rest over a pan of simmering water and whisk with an electric mixer for 3-4 minutes until the mixture holds its shape.
11. Slice each cake in half horizontally to make 4 layers. Put one layer onto the serving dish and spread with 1/4 of the frosting.
12. Top with another chocolate layer and some more frosting.
13. Continue layering chocolate and frosting, ending with frosting on top. Finish with a chocolate holly leaf decoration.
14. For a muscovado and mascarpone devils food cake, instead of the sugary frosting make up this creamy concoction. Take 500 g (1 lb) mascarpone cheese, add 50 g (2 oz) Light Muscovado Sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon chocolate liqueur. Mix everything together until smooth, then spread on top of each chocolate cake layer.

This page can be found at: http://www.secretsauce.co.uk/cakes-desserts/cake-recipes/devils-food-cake/

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