How do I Make a Larger Devils Chocolate Food Cake?

Asked by durlas. Answered on 1st January 2011

Full question

Can I ask how I can increase the ingredients to make a 9" chocolate sandwich cake instead of the 8" specified? I made it over the christmas and it was fab, but my friend wants me to make one for a birthday celebration in the new year to cater for a larger group.

My frosting was still runny after well more than an hour of sitting, with occasional whisking. I used 72% cocoa chocolate and only let the butter/sugar/water mixture get to bubbling (not boiling) before removing it from the heat and adding the chocolate. Any ideas why it didn't set properly?

Where can I get a recipe for this? I saw this on one of Nigella's programmes over the the christmas period, but I can't seem to find the recipe...please help...thank you cookiemomster

Our answer

It is quite difficult to re-scale a cake for a larger cake tin as you tend to get into fractions of eggs etc. However one way you could do this is to make 1 1/2 times the cake batter mixture and divide between three buttered and lined 9-inch cake pans. Bake as per the recipe but start checking if the cakes are done after 25 minutes (they should feel firm on top and a skewer inserted into the centre will come out clean). Assemble the cake as a 3-layer cake and frost with 1 1/2 times the frosting quantity (you may find this is a slightly generous amount of forsting but we doubt anyone will complain!).

The frosting may not have thickened and set if your kitchen is very warm. If it is still very runny then put it in the refrigerator for around 30 minutes, whisking every 10 minutes. But please be vigilant if you do this as it will tend to set around the edges quite quickly. Once it is thick enough to frost the cake then use it immediately. This frosting will tend to stay quite soft and doesn't set hard.

The cake recipe is in Nigella's new book, KITCHEN, p253 and was also featured in The Mail On Sunday's You magazine. It can be seen on the BBC website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/devils_food_cake_49392