Class of 1934

My family is firmly divided on dessert.  I am on the fruit side of the line, but my brother is on the chocolate side with my mother.  Because my most common excuse to bake is family functions, I am always on the lookout for delicious chocolate recipes.  A couple of years ago at my library's annual book sale I picked up a copy of Hershey's 1934 Cookbook, a modern re-print of the original 1934 chocolate recipe collection by Hershey's Chocolate.

These recipes need a delicate hand and a lot of adjustment, because my oven is a lot more powerful than a 1930s oven and I have to check these cakes often or they dry out quickly.  However while these recipes take a little more attention than many of my others, I love the vintage charm in these cakes--someday I will have an excuse to make the truly fabulous depression Potato Cocoa Cakes--and the unique combinations are certainly crowd-pleasers!

I'm getting better with each cake I bake from this book, and this cake was easily the best yet.  Friday was my brother's high school graduation, so this cake was his request: chocolate cake with chocolate icing and more chocolate! 

two of the layers cooling

The cake is the Demon Cake and Bitter Chocolate Frosting recipes from 1934 Cookbook with a buttermilk glaze on each cake layer based on the recipe from The Bake Sale Cookbook by Sally Sampson.  

The Demon Cake is a buttermilk chocolate cake with separated eggs (something common in the cakes in this book): the yolks are blended into the batter while the whites are whipped to stiff peaks and then folded in at the end.  This makes the cake really fluffy and light while preserving the intensity of using unsweetened chocolate.  

stacking the layers

The buttercream is a mix of coco powder and unsweetened chocolate squares.  I also used a few drops of my coveted Mexican vanilla (such a great gift!) and a pinch of cinnamon to give the chocolate some depth.  I wanted to keep this looking classically homemade (even though my brother is the only person I know who actually eats fondant) so the garnish is just a shaved Hershey bar (I had to honor the original!) and a sliced fresh strawberry.  I was so pleased with the way this cake came out-Demon Cake is definitely on the win list!

the full caboodle