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You are here: Home / Uncategorized / Devil’s Food Chocolate Birthday Cake

Devil’s Food Chocolate Birthday Cake

March 8, 2018 Updated April 19, 2025 8 Comments

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Hello March.  Every March 1st I bake this Devil’s food chocolate birthday cake to celebrate my Grandmother.  She is famous for her moist chocolate cake with chocolate icing always topped with chopped walnuts.  I am fortunate to share her birth month and her name. Cecile Stephens Dearden is one of my greatest inspirations in the kitchen and out.

Once again March has rolled in like a Lion reminding me it’s time to pay tribute to this wonderful woman and her Devil’s food chocolate birthday cake.

I have reposted this Devil’s food chocolate birthday cake because it’s such a simple one-bowl cake.  This cake can be whipped up faster than it takes to drive to the grocery store to buy a cake mix.  You can find the step-by-step photos and instructions by clicking this link for Devil’s food cake.  This will soon be a family favorite in your home too.

Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake
5 from 7 votes
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Devil's Food Chocolate Cake

Easy one bowl chocolate cake.  Moist and delicious every time.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
cooling time 1 hour
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 15 servings
Calories 313 kcal
Author Janet Barton

Ingredients

Cake:

  • ½ cup butter softened
  • 1 1/3 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup cocoa preferable Dutch processed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup boiling water

Buttercream icing:

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 3-4 cups powdered or confectioners sugar
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • pinch of salt
  • 4-6 tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • chopped walnuts

Instructions

Cake:

  1. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans or a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.  Set aside.  Sift together flour, soda and salt.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl cream butter, cocoa and sugar for approx. 3 minutes.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy.  Add sour cream and mix until smooth.  Add flour mixture and mix just until blended.  Slowly add boiling water and beat until smooth.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes.  Invert to a cooling rack to cool.  Bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes.

Icing:

  1. In a mixing bowl, blend butter.  Add cocoa, 3 cups of powdered sugar, salt and 4 tablespoons of milk.  Mix until smooth.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add vanilla.  At this point check for consistency.  If you would like your frosting thicker add the extra powdered sugar.  If it needs to be thinner add more milk. Spread over cooled cake.  Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
  2. Makes enough frosting for one 9 x 13-inch cake or 24 cup cakes or a 2 layer cake. 

Nutrition Facts
Devil's Food Chocolate Cake
Amount Per Serving (20 g)
Calories 313 Calories from Fat 151
% Daily Value*
Fat 16.8g26%
Saturated Fat 10.4g52%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 56mg19%
Sodium 353mg15%
Potassium 0mg0%
Carbohydrates 46.1g15%
Fiber 2.9g12%
Sugar 31.2g35%
Protein 3.8g8%
Vitamin A 0IU0%
Vitamin C 0mg0%
Calcium 0mg0%
Iron 0mg0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Last year to celebrate my birth month I posted my version of carrot cake oatmeal.  It’s a winner.  Check out the post here Carrot Cake Oatmeal.

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Related

Filed Under: Cakes and Cupcakes, Dessert, Uncategorized Tagged With: birthday cake, chocolate cake, devil's food cake

Previous Post: « No-Knead Brioche Morning Buns
Next Post: High Altitude Vanilla Bean Cake »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mo McKenna says

    July 6, 2021 at 3:09 pm

    I was looking at recipe for the frosting and couldn’t figure out how you use boiling water in buttercream LOL
    “1 cup boiling waterButtercream icing”
    The icing looks delicious.

    Reply
    • Janet Barton says

      July 6, 2021 at 3:59 pm

      ๐Ÿ˜‚ I hope you give it a try.

      Reply
  2. Tracy says

    August 23, 2019 at 8:44 pm

    Such a wonderful recipe. A lot of complements anD so easy to make with basiC Ingredients I alread had on hand.
    Ill make it again.

    Reply
    • Janet Barton says

      August 24, 2019 at 4:53 pm

      Thank you so much for commenting. I love getting positive feedback and I’m thrilled the cake was a success!

      Reply
      • Tracy says

        December 7, 2019 at 6:29 pm

        5 stars
        One thing about the recipe instructions.
        when I see it on the iphone or ipad, the 1 cup of boiling water happens to be on the same line as the frosting. I had several friends Iโ€™ve shared the recipe with comment on thIs. It Takes a moment to reaLize the water is for the cake and not the frosting. Of course when the recipe is read it makes since.
        Tracy

        Reply
  3. Tann says

    May 21, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    5 stars
    I love the addition of the walnuts!

    Reply
  4. Judy Chappell Simpson says

    March 12, 2018 at 3:23 pm

    Happy birthday cecilE! She was a great woman, and leaves a wonderful legacy. I love your cake pan.

    Reply
    • Janet Barton says

      March 13, 2018 at 11:05 pm

      Hi Judy, I love your CecilE with an “E”. I miss her. Thank you so much for your kind comment. She was a grand lady.

      Reply
5 from 7 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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Janet Barton

Hi I'm Janet and this is where I share my delicious made-from-scratch seasonal recipes that I make at home for my family every day.

I believe cooking from scratch, using unprocessed and whole foods is an important part of healthy eating. My goal is to help you create amazing recipes by providing easy step-by-step photos and instructions.

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