CHOCOLATE CAKE TIMELINE

Photo Credit: recipegreat.com

In the beginning, chocolate was a precious substance used for religions ceremonies. When chocolate was introduced to Europe, other possibilities were explored. Confections, icings, puddings and baked goods embraced chocolate flavor.

What is chocolate cake?

Excellent question with no simple answer. In the first half of the 19th century the typical chocolate cake was a yellow or spice cake meant to accompany a chocolate beverage. In the second quarter of the 19th century the typical chocolate cake was either a white or yellow cake with chocolate icing. It is not until the middle of the 19th century we begin to see chocolate as an ingredient in baked goods (cookies, cakes). Progress was slow. By the beginning of the 20th century chocolate cakes, as we know them today, proliferate. Why? Consumer economics, product availability and serious corporate marketing.

The oldest print reference we find for baked goods with chocolate ingredient is 1779. In this letter sent from prison, the notorious Marquis De Sade complains bitterly to his wife about the "care" package she sent him.

Alphonse Francois, Marquis de Sade, primarily known for 'other activities,' nevertheless, mentioned chocolate in a series of letters written form prison addressed to his wife. In a most interesting letter dated May 16, 1779, he tersely complained of the quality of a food package she previously sent to him and enumerated his complaints. 'This sponge cake is not at all what I asked for: 1) I wanted it iced everywhere, both on top and underneath, with the same icing used on the little cookies; 2) I wanted it to be chocolate inside, of which it contains not the slightest hint; they have colored it with some sort of dark herb, but there is not what one could call the slightest suspicion of chocolate. The next time you send me a package, please have it made for me, and try to have some trustworthy person there to see for themselves that some chocolate is put inside. The cookies must smell of chocolate, as if one were biting into a chocolate bar.' This specific de Sade letter reveals several important pieces of information. First, the letter hints that the so-called chocolate cookies were prepared from adulterated chocolate...Second, the concluding sentence suggests that bars of chocolate for eating pleasure were available in Paris nearly 50 years before Van Houten's invention of the cocoa press, an invention that some have interpreted as a necessary 'tipping-point' required before the development of confectionary chocolate. In 18th century Europe and elsewhere, consumers did not 'bite into' standard chocolate tablets. These tablets whether circular, rectangular, or appearing as 'globs' were not eaten like 20th and 21st century candy bars; these tablets were grated and used to prepare chocolate beverages. Thus, the phrase 'biting into' reveals the probability that bars of confectionary chocolate circulated in France by this early date." ---Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage, edited by Louis Evan Grivetti [John Wiley & Sons:Hoboken NJ] 2009 (p. 746)

[NOTES: (1) Source for De Sade quote: de Sade, A.F. (Marquis de Sade). Letters from Prison. Translated by R. Seaver. New York:Arcade Publishing, 1999. Letter to his wife, dated May 16, 1779. (2) The chocolate tablets not have been "eating chocolate," as we know it today.]

The earliest baked good recipe we find (so far)with chocolate as ingredient is from 1847. While it confirms the use of chocolate in this capacity, it by no means indicates this was a common practice in the day.

[1847]
Chocolate Puffs - Ladies Receipt Book, Eliza Leslie [Philadelphia]
Devil's food
Recipes for rich, chocolate cakes similar to devil's food were fairly common in late 19th century cookbooks, but they were not named such. They were typically listed under the generic name "chocolate cake." Recipes titled devil's food proliferated, sometimes with interesting and creative twists) in the first decades of the 20th century. Red Devil appears in the 1930s.

"Devil's food. A cake, muffin, or cookie made with dark chocolate, so called because it is supposedly so rich and delicious that it must be somewhat sinful, although the association is clearly made with humor. Its dark color contrasted with the snowy white of angel-food cake, an earlier confection. The first devil's food recipe appeared in 1900, after which recipes and references became frequent in cookbooks. The "red devil's food cake," given a reddish-brown color by the mixture of cocoa and baking soda, is post-World War II version of the standard devil's food cake." ---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 111)

Angel food belongs to the nineteenth century but devil's food to the twentieth. How this chocolate cake came to be called devil's food no one knows although it may have been a play on opposites: it was as dark and rich as angel food was light an airy...In the early 1900's there were a number of bizarre variations on Devils Food Cake. Once called for mashed potatoes and a number for ground cinnamon and cloves in addition to chocolate..." ---American Century Cookbook: The Most Popular Recipes of the 20th Century, Jean Anderson [Clarkson Potter:New York] 1997 (p. 452-3)

Some food historians believe this might be the first mention of Devil's food. It appears in a memoir written by Caroline King's of her childhood in 1880s Chicago. Ms. King was a popular food writer in the 1920s-1930s.

"Devil's Food, though a new cake in our household, had made its dashing appearance in Chicago in the middle eighties, and by the time it reached our quiet little community, was quite the rage. Maud's receipt was the original one, and made a large, dark, rich cake. Here it is:

Devil's Food

1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups flour
1 scant teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla.

Anna melted the chocolate over hot water while Maude creamed the butter and added the sugar gradually; then she whipped in the slightly beaten yolks of the eggs and the melted chocolate and vanilla. I was permitted to sift and measure the flour and then sift it again with the baking powder and soda. When this was done, Maude alternately added the flour mixture and the sour cream to the egg-sugar-butter-chocolate combination. Last of all, she folded in the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs and turned the delicious-smelling brown batter into three layer-cake pans which Anna had buttered and floured. The baking, in a very moderate oven, was carefully watched. According to a time-honored custom in our family, the cakes were tested with a clean broomstraw and when finished were turned, beautifully brown and entrancingly fragrant, from the pans onto a clean towel. Now came the next important part, the icing and filling. The Watermans' receipt called for a thick boiled icing made pleasantly piquant with a few drops of citric acid. But citric acid sounded dangerous to Maud, and besides, as Anna explained, we had no such article in our supply closet. Even Emily's stock of special flavorings refused to yield it, so Maud used lemon juice, sparingly and judiciously, and the result was perfect. Altogether it was a noble cake, nobly made." ---Victorian Cakes: A Reminiscence With Recipes, Caroline B. King, with an introduction by Jill Gardner [Aris/Berkeley:1986] (p. 35-6) There is no recipe for Devil's food in Favorite Dishes: A Columbian Autograph Souvenir Cookery Book, a collection of recipes contributed by prominent Chicago women in 1893. This book, originally compiled by Carrie V. Shuman, was recently reissued by the University Press, Chicago [2001].

What is the difference between chocolate cake and devil's food?

This simple question has many answers, depending upon the period and cookbook. As noted above, the first 19th century American chocolate cake recipes were white/yellow cakes with chocolate icing. The addition of chocolate to the batter increased as the price of this ingredient declined, thus creating "chocolate cake" as we know it today. 20th century cookbooks often list chocolate cake and devils food on the same page. The most predominant difference between the two? Devil's food usually contains a greater proportion of chocolate. Fannie Farmer [1923] doubles the amount of chocolate required for her devil's food (4 ounces compared to 2 ounces for "regular" chocolate cake.). Irma S. Rombauer confirms: "When the larger amount of chocolate is used, it is a black, rich Devil's Food." (Joy of Cooking, 1931 p. 236)

Compare this chocolate cake recipe [1894] with Mrs. Rorer's [1902] & Good Housekeeping's [1903] devil's food recipes (below):
Chocolate Cake, No. 3

One and a half cups of sugar, half cup of butter, three-quarters cup of milk, three eggs and yolk of another, two cups of flour, two teaspoons baking powder, one full cup of Baker's chocolate. Break up the chocolate and put in a cup over the tea kettle until it melts. This will make four layers, and use the following recipe for boiled icing between the layers.

Boiled icing

One cup of sugar (granulated), quarter cup of water (cold), one egg (only white, beaten stiff). Put water on sugar in a saucepan and let it boil until it threads. Then remove from fire and pour over the stiff white, beaten until it thickens. Put on the cake at once." ---The Oracle: Receipts Rare, Rich and Reliable, The Woman's Parish Aid Society of Christ Church, [Tarrytown: New York] 1894 (p. 88)

The earliest recipe we have for Devil's Food printed in an American cookbook is dated 1902:

"Devil's Food
1/2 cup of milk
4 ounces of chocolate
1/2 cup butter
3 cups pastry flour
1 1/2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder

Put in a double boiler four ounces of chocolate and a half pint of milk; cook until smooth and thick, and stand aside to cool. Beat a half cup of butter to a cream; add gradually one and a half cups of sugar and the yolks of four eggs; beat until light and smooth. Then add the cool chocolate mixture and three cups of pastry flour, with which you have sifted two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Beat thoroughly for at least five minutes; then stir in the well beaten whites of the eggs. Bake in three or four layers. Put the layers together with soft icing, to which you have added a cup of chopped nuts. The success of this cake depends upon the flour used."
---Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book, Sarah Tyson Rorer [Philadelphia: 1902] (p. 619)
[NOTE: Mrs. Rorer's chocolate loaf cake recipe (p. 615) calls for 2 ounces of chocolate]
Devil's Food Cake

Two and a half cups of sifted flour, two cups of sugar, one-half cup of butter, one-half cup of sour milk, one-half cup of hot water, two eggs, one-half or one-fourth cake of chocolate, one teaspoon of vanilla, one teaspoon of soda. Grate chocolate and dissolved with the soda in hot water. Use white icing."

---Good Housekeeping Everyday Cook Book, Isabel Gordon Curtis, [Phelps Publishing:New York] 1903 (p. 50); recipe attributed to Mrs. Nelson Ruggles.
[NOTE: This book's recipe for chocolate cake (p. 50) is white cake with chocolate filling]

By 1913, devils food and devils cake were all the rage. How do we know? Anna Clair Vangalder's Modern Women of America Cookbook [Modern Woodman Press:Rock Island] lists no less than 23 recipes! Some are simple, others are complicated. Sour milk and brown sugar seem to be the standard ingredients, though some recipes specified white sugar and sweet milk cut with boiling water. Melted/grated unsweetened chocolate (cake, bakers) was the norm, though some recipes used cocoa. Some cakes were layered, others were baked in simple loaf pans. About half of the early devils cakes were iced.

Recipes for devil's food cake have changed over the years. Duncan Hines Dessert Book [New York:1955] lists three recipes for Devil's Food Cake, and one each for Cocoa Devil's Food Cake, Party Devil's Food Cake, and Sour Cream Devil's Food Cake (p. 37-41). Jean Anderson's American Century Cookbook (p. 452-3) does a good job outlining the evolution of this particular cake.

Red Devil's Food

What makes this cake red? Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen tells us this chemical reaction occurs when combining alkaline (baking soda/powder) with acid (cocoa, buttermilk, vinegar). "Chemical leavenings have...effects on both flavor and color...Colors are...affected conditions: browning reactions are enhanced, chocolate turns reddish, and blueberries turn green." (p. 534). Red cakes can be achieved several ways.

Recipes for Red Devil's Cake begin to appear in North American newspapers and cookbooks during the 1930s. Some are specifically called "red devil," others are simply called devil and are undistinguishable unless the cook examined the ingredients.

[1929]
"This afternoon at 2:00. An interesting lecture ad practical demonstration on the preparation and cooking of foods suitable for use in every household under the direction of Mrs. Maabel (Chef) Wyman, whose enus and recipes appear as a daily feature in the Los Angles Times. Nothing to buy and no fees of any kind. Comfortable chairs for all... Ask for free copies of all recipes demonstrated. Friday, December 13, 1929...Red Devil's Food Cake..."
---display ad, Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1929 (p. A3)

[1930]
"There is one cake to which most men are susceptible--devil's food. Whenn women are left to choose, they usually seect the lighter colored varieties. Today we are giving a recipe for red devil's food a dark cake that will appeal to all...The cause of the desirable red color in some devil's food is a question with food chemists. Housewives have believed for a long time that only those cakes that contain soda arae red. ome chemists, however, do not agree with this theory. Whaatever the cause may be we do know that it usually results when sour milk and soda are used. Our recipe includes both. The usual buttermilk sold by the dairymen or your grocery man is sufficently uniform in acidity to produce good results.

"Red Devil's Food Cake

2 cups pastry flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 cup fat [half butter]
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour milk
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 cup boiling water

Sift four, then measure. Resift with cocoa twice. Cream fat until plastic. The add sugar gradually, creaming thoroughly. Add well beated eggs and beat hard one minute. Ad flour-cocoa mixture alternately with the sour milk in which soda has been dissolved, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Add vanilla and beat vigorously one-half minute. Add boiling water [water must be boiling to make cake red]. Stir until batter is smooth. Turn into layer or loaf pans that have been oiled and lined with paraffin paper. Bake in a moderate oven [350 degrees Fahrenheit] about 35 minutes. Yield: One loaf or 2 layers. One serving: Total 249 calories; Protent, 16 calories; fat, 103 calories; carbohydrate, 130 calories."
---"Three Meals a Day: From the Tribune Cook Book," Meta Given, Chicago Daily Tribune, June 12, 1930 (p. 32)

[1936]
"Devil's Food Cake (Red)
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour milk 1 heaping teaspoon soda
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
2/3 cup Watkins Cocoa dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Watkins Vanilla
Cream butter, slowly add sugar, cream thoroughly. Add well-beaten eggs and soda dissloved in little hot water, also Watkins Cocoa mixed with little hot water. Alternately add sour milk and flour. Mix to smooth batter, add Watkins Vanilla, bake in moderate oven 35 to 40 minutes."
---Watkins Cook Book [J.R. Watkins Company:Winona MN] 1936 (p. 98)

[1938]
"Red Devil's Food
Cook one cup brown sugar, two-thirds cup cocoa, two-thirds cup buttermilk and one egg yolk five minutes, stirring constantly. Beat and cool. Cream one-half cup vegetable shortening and one cup granulated usgar, add cooked custard alternately with two and one-fourth cups flour which have been sifted with one teaspoon each soda and baking powder and one-fourth teaspoon salt. Beat two eggs and add with one-half cup water and one teaspoon vanilla. Pour in two layer-cake pans which have been lined with waxed paper. Bake twenty-five minutes in 375 deg. F. oven. Cool and frost."
---"Devil's Food Cake Wins Plaudits," Marian Manners, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 1938 (p. A6)

[1946]
"Red Devil's Food
Generally popular--but not with me, which is not to be taken as a criterion.
Measure:
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
Resift with:
1 1/2 teaspoon tartrate phosphate baking powder or 1 teaspoon combination type
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
Cream until light and fluffy:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
Add one at a time and beat well:
2 eggs
Melt: 2 ounces chocolate in 1/2 cup boiling water
Cool slightly, then stir these ingredients into the egg mixture. Add the dry ingredients in about three parts alternately with:
1/2 cup sour milk
Add: 1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir the batter after each addition until it is well blended. Bake it in two greased 9 inch layer pans in a moderate oven 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Spread the cake with Seven Minute Morocco Icing."
---Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer [Bobbs-Merrill:Indianapolis] 1946 (p. 542)

[1951]
"Red Velvet Devil's Food
Mix well
1/2 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons bking soda
1/2 cup very hot water
Set this mixture aside until the rest of the cake is mixed
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten separately
1/4 cup shortening
2 1/2 cups flour (sifted 2 times)
1/2 cup sour milk
1/4 teaspon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream shortening until light. Add sugar. Continue to cream until well blended. Add well-beaten egg yellows. Beat a few strokes to blend. Add alternately sour milk and flour with salt beating after each addition. Add cocoa mixture and blend well by beating. Add vanilla and well-beaten egg whites, folding carefuly to prevent breaking down whites. Bake at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes in greased, flowered cake tube pan. Turn out on cooling rack.

Ice with: Caramel icing

2 cups brown sugar
Scant 1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons cream
Heat until above mixture boils up to heavy froth. Take from fire. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. If too thin for spreading, add powdered sugar. If too thick, add a bit of cream."

---"Prize-Winning Recipe," San Antonio Light [TX], March 23, 1951 (p. 4B)
[NOTE: This recipe is not the same as Red Velvet Cake.]

[1956]
"Real Red Devils Food Cake
A rich, moist cake...made with cocoa. Developed by Lorraine Kilgren of our staff...

Grease and flour: 2 8" or 9" layer pans or 13 X 9" oblong pan
Sift together into bowl:
1 3/4 cups Softasilk flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/4 tsp. soda, 1 tsp. salt, 1/3 cup cocoa
Add: 1/2 cup soft shortening, 2/3 cup milk
Beat 2 min.
Add: another 1/3 cup milk, 2 eggs (1/3 to 1/2 cup), 1 tsp. vanilla
Beat 2 more min.
Pour into prepared pans. Bake until cake tests done. Cool. Finish with White Mountain or Satiny Beige Frosting or with Chocolate Butter Icing. Temperature: 350 degrees F (mod. oven).

Time: Bake 8" layers 35 to 40 min., 9" layers 30 to 35 min., oblong 45 to 50 min."
---Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, Revised and Enlarged, second edition [McGraw-Hill:New York] 1956 (p. 151)

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