Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Cake Recipes Devil's Food Cake Layers 3.7 (7) 1 Review By Martha Stewart Test Kitchen Martha Stewart Test Kitchen The recipes developed by our test kitchen team have undergone a rigorous process of development and testing, ensuring that every element is optimal, from ingredient amounts to method and cooking time. This process includes triple-testing recipes to ensure they meet our high standards. The many stellar cooks and food editors who have been part of our team include Sarah Carey, Lucinda Scala Quinn, Jennifer Aaronson, Shira Bocar, Anna Kovel, Greg Lofts, Riley Wofford, Lauren Tyrell, and Lindsay Leopold. Editorial Guidelines Updated on August 25, 2020 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Johnny Miller Yield: Makes one 9-inch cake and one 11-inch cake You will need three separate batches of this batter to create the Haunted-House Cake. Do not attempt to make a single large batch. Ingredients 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (3 ¾ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans ¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, plus more for pans ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water 3 ¾ cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda ¾ teaspoon coarse salt 2 ¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 5 large eggs, room temperature 1 ¼ cups whole milk Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 11- by-2-inch round cake pan and a 9-by-2- inch round cake pan. Line bottoms with parchment rounds, then butter parchment. Dust pans with cocoa powder, and tap out excess. Mix cocoa powder and the boiling water in a bowl until smooth. Let cool. Sift together cake flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and scraping sides of bowl as needed. Whisking constantly, pour milk into cocoa mixture in a slow, steady stream; whisk until smooth. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in three additions, alternating with cocoa-milk mixture, and starting and ending with flour mixture. Transfer 5 cups batter to the 11-inch pan and 3 cups batter to the 9-inch pan. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks and let cool completely. Invert cakes onto racks, then remove parchment and re-invert, top sides up. Use a serrated knife to trim top of each cake to make level. Rate it Print