Devil’s Cake

Ingredients:
175 gr. of flour
¼ teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
50 gr. of cocoa
225 ml of water
110 gr. of butter
275 gr. of sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten

Filling:
40 gr. of butter
50 gr. of confectioner’s sugar
40 gr. of pure chocolate
1 teaspoon of water

Covering:
2 egg whites
350 gr. of confectioner’s sugar
One pinch of salt and a little tartar sauce
4 tablespoons of water

Preparation:
Grease two flat baking sandwich bowls of 20 centimeters and cover the bases with impermeable paper by spreading the butter. Mix the flour, the baking powder and baking soda together. Then mix in the cacao with the water.

Beat the butter and add in the sugar while still beating it until it forms into a light and spongy cream. Little by little go adding in the eggs while beating it at the same time. Add in the flour and the cocoa with water alternately. Distribute the mix between the two prepared baking pans and place them in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for around 45 to 50 minutes; then take them out and let them cool on a platter.

Mash up the butter and add in the confectioners sugar and beat them together. Mix the chocolate with the water in a bowl. Add in the butter with sugar and mix it and put the filling between the two cakes as if forming a big sandwich.

In a big bowl place the egg whites, sugar, the salt, tartar cream, and the water. Place it over a hot casserole and beat it by hand or with an electric beater for around seven minutes until the mixture is thick enough to the point where it is stiff. Extend this over the surface and sides of the cake, adding spiral shapes with a knife and let it dry and harden.

Brillat Savarin’s recipe to increase the flavor of chocolate, that was taught to him by the superior mother of the visiting Convent, Belley, said that when someone wanted to try good chocolate, to make it the night before in a porcelain coffee pot and to allow it to rest. During the night the chocolate will concentrate and this will give it a better consistency. She said that the good Lord would probably not get offended with this refinement, since He is above all the most perfect.