# Which is more chocolatey--devil's food or plain chocolate cake? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175 "2005-08-30T00:11:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175/1 "2005-08-30T00:11:21Z")
I always thought devil’s food was deeper chocolate, but my friend always thought the opposite. Which is true? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175/2 "2005-08-30T00:46:41Z")
[This staff report](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdeviledeggs.html) leads us to [this cite on devil’s food cake](http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Cakes/DevilsFoodCake.htm) which says > [@](#): > > Devil’s Food Cake is also know as Red Velvet Cake, Red Devil’s Cake, Waldorf Astoria Cake, and $100 Dollar Cake. > > A beautiful mild chocolate flavor cake that is startlingly red. The cake is traditionally complemented with a thick white frosting with different regions of the country using different types of frosting. The cake gets this bright red color from the large amount of red food dye used in the preparation. A light-textured chocolate layer-type cake with a deep reddish brown color. Devils food cake is usually thought of in terms of dark chocolate, but originally it was red. Today cooks, using modern processed cocoa, sometimes add a touch of red food coloring to bring back the authentic color. This cake is particularly popular in New Orleans. So Devil’s food cake is chocolaty _and_ red. I would say that “chocolate cake” is a general category of cakes like devil’s food, german chocolate, chocolate lover’s cake, coca-cola cake, and any of a dozen or more cakes that are all basically a kind of choclate cake. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175/3 "2005-08-30T03:33:13Z")
That’s odd, **Patty O’Furniture**. I’ve never seen devil’s food cake that was red. I’m guessing there are some regional differences. The link says that people may leave out the dye these days. I don’t really know enough about baking to say what it was exactly that I’ve eaten, but I know I’ve never had a red cake. I know that some cupcakes my mother used to make used a devil’s food base rather than just a simple chocolate cake base. I’ll ask her next time we speak. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175/4 "2005-08-30T04:35:49Z")
The term _Devil’s Food Cake_ is a play on _Angel Food Cake_ - a type of cake that was invented first, I believe. Angel food cake is made with beaten egg whites and no oil or fat, and tends to be very light and fluffy. Angel food cake is also flavored with “light” flavors such as vanilla or almond extract. Devil’s food cake is a sort of opposite of angel food cake. That is, it is rich and dense with a strong flavor (i.e. lots of chocolate). It is made with whole eggs, butter and sour cream or buttermilk. As for whether devil’s food is more chocolatey than plain chocolate cake - I don’t think there’s a straight answer to this question, since there’s no standard recipe for either. You can put as much chocolate or cocoa as you like in either one. The thing that distinguishes devil’s food cake from most other types of cake is moistness and richness (although most devil’s food cakes are pretty chocolatey). ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175/5 "2005-08-30T10:15:55Z")
I’ve also never seen red devil’s food cake. What’s more, I can’t figure out why I keep hearing that red velvet cake is chocolate. A lot of recipes I’ve seen don’t call for any chocolate or cocoa at all and those that do only call for a little bit of it (a teaspoon or two)—just enough to add maybe a hint of chocolate flavor. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175/6 "2005-08-30T12:26:23Z")
In my experience there is quite a difference between Red Velvet Cake and Devil’s Food Cake. Devil’s Food has always been very chocolatey and rich, moving closer to a darker chocolate flavor than regular chocolate cake even though both are usually served with a thick, creamy chocolate frosting. Red Velvet cake is also a rich cake but not nearly as chocolate in flavor. In fact, I wouldn’t go with “chocolate” being the actual flavor of the cake. It’s more of a unique rich vanilla-cocoa mix. This type of cake is usually frosted with a cream cheese, sour cream or other creamy white frosting. Actually, you can see the difference in the chocolatey-ness in the recipes: red velvet cake usually calls for a couple of teaspoons or sometimes tablespoons of cocoa whereas devil’s food cake recipes usually call for 1/2 to 1 full cup of cocoa. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175/7 "2005-08-30T18:15:51Z")
My Grammy says Devil’s Food cake always had red food coloring in it. It was popular during the war because chocolate was scarce. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175/8 "2005-08-30T21:20:24Z")
[From this site…](http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcakes.html) > [@](#): > > **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) ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175/9 "2005-08-31T00:29:31Z")
Well, thanks! I have made red velvet cake before, and it had a whole bottle of red food coloring, as I recall. But I don’t remember how much chocolate was in it. It was popular in Texas in the late 70’s early 80’s. (At least it was where I was living.) I’ll just have to get out my Joy of Cooking which I recently took from a dead woman and check this devil’s food cake out! (She was dead for several months and her husband gave her cookbooks away after their children took the ones they wanted.) ---
**Author:** ![seaworthy82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@seaworthy82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seaworthy82)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-chocolatey-devils-food-or-plain-chocolate-cake/319175/10 "2005-08-31T01:43:31Z")
I’ve never made a Red Velvet cake from scratch, but the kind that comes out the box tastes like a chocolate-cherry cake to me.