Devil’s Food Cake

The Ultimate Birthday Cake

March 31st

My younger son’s 18th birthday was in March. And each year, it’s the same discussion of what kind of cake to have. Chocolate is a given, but how many layers? What kind of icing? My husband’s question is about the type of candles to use. Should we use the numbers, the relighting candles, or just regular ones?

From the picture above, you can see that I used regular candles. What you can’t see is how the wax sprayed the cake when they were blown out!

As for the number of layers, I decided on three. Why bother with only one layer? Two is too few, but four layers make the cake too tall and hard to cut. So, I settled on three.

Now the hard part. Which recipe? I decided to go with a tried-and-true recipe that I’ve made many times, a Devil’s Food Cake. It’s simple, fast, and delicious.

What exactly is a Devil’s Food Cake, and how do it get that name?

Devil’s Food Cake is said to be a chocolate version of an Angel’s Food Cake because of how light and fluffy it is and the fact that it is not overly sweet. Baking soda creates the light and fluffy effect, and unsweetened cocoa powder gives the cake the chocolate taste without making it too sweet or rich.

Unlike a German Chocolate Cake, which has to have a caramel filling or frosting with coconut and pecans, Devil’s Food Cake only refers to the cake itself. The frosting can be anything you desire. While a white icing would make a strikingly beautiful cake, this birthday cake, according to my son, had to have a chocolate frosting. A fluffy chocolate butter frosting was the only logical choice.

A little more history about these cakes. Angel’s Food Cake became popular in the late 1800s, Devil’s Food Cake in the early 1900s, and German Chocolate Cake around 1960.

Remember that this cake was for my son. My favorite birthday cake is Angel’s Food Cake with a Spiced Cranberry Sauce.

Email me your favorite birthday cake or tradition. I would love to hear your story.

As always, happy cooking and eating!

While I’m Away,

Let Them Eat Comfort Food

I leave today for a trip to Cuba with my father. It’s our first father-daughter only vacation. We’ll be together nine nights – two nights in Miami, seven nights on the Fathom cruise ship. Dad’s always wanted to go to Cuba because he grew up during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He’s wanted to go for over 50 years. I’m honored to be going with him. It’s going to be an eye-opening trip.

You may be wondering how this story relates to iwannabeacook, other than to tell you that there won’t be a newsletter next week. Well, my husband and younger son are going to be home alone next week, so they will have to cook their own food.

I heard my son ask my husband about what they were going to eat while I was away. He assured him it wouldn’t be a problem; he assured me he wouldn’t eat out every night.

Doing what anyone in my situation would do, I gave him a tour of the freezer – steaks, lamb chops, brats, ground beef and pork for meatloaf, chicken. The next stop was the pantry – pasta, rice, potatoes, onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, spices. The final stop was the refrigerator – carrots, celery, lettuce, bell peppers, cheese.

I’ve said this over and over again. With a well-stocked pantry, cooking is simple. We browsed the recipes on iwannabeacook and came up with a long list of recipes. Listed below are some of the possibilities. I put this here not only as a reminder to him but as a list for my readers when they have no idea what to cook.

Barbecue meatloaf, Mashed potatoes, salad with Basic vinaigrette
Parmesan-crusted baked chicken, Home fries, raw bell peppers
Roasted chicken, baked potatoes, Sautéed carrots with ginger
Pasta and green onions, celery and carrot sticks with Blue cheese dip
Grilled lamb with mint sauce, rice, Steamed green beans
Grilled cheese sandwich, Spicy tomato soup
Brats, Caramelized onions, Potato salad
Tuna melt, salad with Sweet and sour vinaigrette
Frittata with bell peppers, Pete’s biscuits

He now has nine menus for the week. As it turns out, most of these recipes are comfort foods for my husband and son, and they are relatively quick and easy. Do I think all nine meals will be made? Do I think the vegetables will be prepared, served, or eaten? Absolutely not! But what’s important is that they know they have a lot of choices. All they have to do is to remember to thaw the meat and take his iPad to the kitchen!

There will be no newsletter next week, but the next newsletter will highlight my trip to Cuba. When I travel, my creativity in food planning soars, so be prepared for new and exciting recipes in the near future!

As always, happy cooking and eating!

March 4, 2017