shanmonster | Spiced Devil's Food Cake

I used to make this recipe all the time about fifteen years ago, and lost track of the recipe until a couple of days ago. The strangest things emerge while unpacking....

I tried halving the recipe to make cupcakes. Here's hoping it works out.

In any case, here's the recipe. Enjoy!

2/3 cup softened butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cold strong coffee (although I used cold Earl Grey Vanilla tea, this time around)

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease two 9" layer cake pans and dust them lightly with cocoa or flour.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
4. In a third bowl, blend cocoa, milk, and coffee until smooth. Stir this mixture alternately with the dry mixture into the butter mixture, stirring until smooth after each addition.
5. Divide batter between pans. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean (about 30 minutes). Turn layers out onto wire racks. Cool completely and frost with White Cloud Frosting.

(I rarely frost anything, as I don't have much of a sweet tooth. Here is the frosting recipe, for completion's sake. It's pretty good, if I remember correctly.)

White Cloud Frosting

1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup water
1 large egg white
1/4 tsp vanilla

1. Combine sugar, cream of tartar, salt, and water in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir well and bring to a boil; remove from heat.
2. Slowly add egg white, beating constantly with an electric beater. Continue beating until mixture reaches a fluffy, spreadable consistency, then beat in vanilla.

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Update: The cupcakes worked. HOLY YUM! I'd forgotten how much I like this recipe. It's not too sweet, but oh, so very tasty.