😈🍰 May 19 – Devil’s Food Cake Day: Sinfully Sweet & Seriously Worth It 🍫🔥
If chocolate cake had an evil twin, it’d be Devil’s Food Cake—dark, rich, and decadent enough to make angels blush. So naturally, it gets its own holiday on May 19, because who wouldn’t want an excuse to indulge in a dessert that basically laughs in the face of restraint?
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🎂 A Quick Slice of Cake History
While no one knows exactly who first whipped up this sinful treat, Devil’s Food Cake started popping up in American cookbooks in the early 1900s. It was a rebellious answer to the lighter, airier Angel Food Cake—richer, darker, and oh-so-moist thanks to ingredients like butter, eggs, and a heap of cocoa powder (and later, actual melted chocolate). Some say the name was a cheeky nod to just how indulgent it is… like, "so good, it must be bad."
Fun fact: Back in the day, red food coloring was sometimes added, giving it a reddish tint and confusing people into thinking it was Red Velvet. Nope—different diva entirely.
🍴 10+ Devilishly Delightful Ways to Celebrate
Bake Your Own from Scratch 👩🍳
Throw on a dramatic playlist (may we suggest Billie Eilish or some classical villain scores?) and bake the richest, fudgiest Devil’s Food Cake you can. Bonus points if you serve it with a pitchfork-shaped cake server.Host a Cake-Off with Friends 🎉
Everyone brings a different chocolate cake—Devil’s Food, German Chocolate, Flourless Torte—and you taste them all to find the true ruler of the underworld. It’s called research, okay?Pair it with Spicy Ice Cream 🌶️🍦
Add a scoop of cinnamon or chili-infused chocolate ice cream for a hot-and-sweet combo that feels just a little dangerous.Watch a Devilishly Good Movie 🎬
"The Devil Wears Prada," "Rosemary’s Baby," or “Lucifer” on Netflix while eating cake? That’s a whole vibe.Make Mini Devil’s Food Cupcakes 🧁
Because nothing says “I’m only having a little sin” like eating six tiny cupcakes instead of one big slice. These goth cupcake toppers give it something a little extra!Use It as a Bribe 💼
Need a favor? Devil’s Food Cake is highly persuasive. Just saying.Start a Chocolate Journal 📓🍫
Rate different brands of cocoa powder or cakes you try throughout the year. Give them dramatic titles like "Dark Temptation" or "Sinful Seduction."Eat Cake for Breakfast 🍳→🍰
It’s a holiday. There are no rules. Especially if you call it a “breakfast pastry.”Dress in All Black and Declare Yourself the Cake Devil 🖤😈
Bonus points for a red fork as your scepter. Rule your kitchen kingdom with fudge and flair.Make It Boozy 🥃
Add a splash of espresso liqueur, bourbon, or spiked whipped cream. The devil definitely made you do it.Gift Cake to Your Favorite “Sinner” 💌
Leave a mysterious slice on a friend’s doorstep with a note: “For when you’re feeling a little wicked.”
Check out our fun themed t-shirt in our Etsy store!
Let’s lean into it with full drama—think "Goth Picnic in the Garden" vibes to follow our woodland May Day theme. Here’s your moody, indulgent menu for the occasion:
👑 Main Dish: Red Wine Mushroom Risotto with Garlic Herb Oil
Velvety, earthy, and just gothic enough to whisper, “This isn’t your average rice dish.”
🍽️ Red Wine Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil + 2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup dry red wine (Malbec, Cab, or your fave potion)
4 cups warm vegetable broth (or mushroom broth, if you’re extra)
1/2 lb mixed mushrooms (shiitake, cremini, oyster—get funky)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (or vegan alt)
Salt & pepper to taste
Optional: fresh thyme for garnish
Garlic Herb Oil (Drizzle Magic):
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 tbsp fresh chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, or rosemary)
Instructions:
Garlic Herb Oil: In a small pan, heat olive oil and gently sizzle garlic slices until golden. Remove from heat, stir in herbs, and set aside.
In a deep pan, heat olive oil and butter. Sauté onion until translucent. Add garlic and mushrooms; cook until tender and browned.
Stir in arborio rice and toast for a minute.
Add wine and stir until absorbed—it's giving drama.
Add warm broth one ladle at a time, stirring gently until absorbed before adding more. This takes ~20 minutes. Be patient; you're making rice poetry.
Once creamy and al dente, stir in Parmesan and season to taste.
Drizzle with garlic herb oil and garnish with thyme.
🧄 Side: Charred Radicchio & Fennel Salad
A little bitter, a little sweet—perfect foil for the richness.
Ingredients:
1 head radicchio, quartered
1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced
Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper
Shaved Parmesan or toasted walnuts (or both!)
Grill or roast radicchio and fennel until charred at the edges. Toss with balsamic, a bit of olive oil, and sprinkle with cheese or nuts.
🎂 Main Event: Devil’s Food Cake with Espresso Ganache
Dark, decadent, and just a little sinful.
Cake Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (the darker the better)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk (or milk + 1 tbsp vinegar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup hot coffee
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
Espresso Ganache
8 oz dark chocolate (chopped)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp instant espresso powder
Pinch of salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans.
Whisk dry ingredients in one bowl. In another, mix buttermilk, vanilla, and hot coffee.
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time.
Alternate adding dry and wet ingredients until just combined.
Divide into pans and bake 25–30 min. Cool completely.
Heat cream until just simmering, pour over chocolate and espresso powder. Let sit, then whisk until glossy.
Frost that cake like you’re summoning dessert spirits.
🍷 Drink Pairing: Blackberry Thyme Sparkler (Cocktail or Mocktail)
A little dark fruit, a little herbal mystery.
Muddle fresh blackberries with thyme and lemon juice.
Strain into a glass, top with sparkling water or prosecco.
Garnish with a sprig of thyme and a few dramatic berries.
🕯️ Vibes: Gothic Garden Picnic
Black lace tablecloth on the floor
Candlelight and moody florals (think deep reds, purples, wild greenery)
Maybe a playlist of moody jazz or haunting strings
Bonus points for black velvet napkins or dramatic eyeliner
🎉 Devil’s Food Cake Day in the Elementary Classroom 🍫🍽️
📖 "Cakes Around the World" Read-Aloud & Map Match Read a story or nonfiction piece about global desserts (e.g. Let’s Bake a Cake or Everybody Bakes Bread), then have students match cakes to countries on a world map.
🧁 Devil’s Food Cake Day in the Secondary Classroom 🎓🍫
📐 Geometry of Cake Design Use geometric nets to design a custom cake box or slice—calculate surface area, volume, and how much frosting you’d need to cover it!
😈 Quirky in the Workplace
The “Infernal Bake-Off”
Invite everyone to bring in their most over-the-top chocolate creation.
The twist? It must include a mildly cursed ingredient.
Examples:
Chili powder
Instant coffee
Crushed pretzels of unknown origin
Winner gets: A mini plastic pitchfork and the title of “Bake Room Overlord.”
🎬 Movie Pick: Chocolat (2000)
Why it fits: A mysterious woman opens a chocolate shop in a strait-laced French village during Lent—and shakes things up with her irresistible sweets. It's all about giving in to pleasure, questioning restraint, and letting flavor (and life) melt on your tongue.
Bonus: The sensual chocolate-making scenes feel like visual Devil’s Food Cake.
📺 TV Episode: The Great British Bake Off – “Chocolate Week” (Season 4, Episode 4 UK / Collection 4, Episode 4 on Netflix)
Why it fits: This episode is dripping with ganache, filled with fondant, and stacked with layer cakes. It’s the ultimate food fantasy—high-stakes baking, British politeness, and pure cocoa indulgence. You’ll want to eat something chocolatey by the end.
Alt pick for drama:
📺 Pushing Daisies – “The Fun in Funeral” (Season 1, Episode 3)
This candy-colored mystery series revolves around a pie maker who brings people back from the dead—what’s more devilishly sweet than that? Plus, food imagery everywhere.
🍫 Fun Facts to Feed Your Inner Dessert Nerd
Devil’s Food Cake is often made with baking soda instead of baking powder, giving it a darker hue and fluffier texture.
In the 1960s, it was a go-to boxed cake flavor—Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, you name it.
The cake’s extra darkness used to come from Dutch-processed cocoa, which is treated with an alkali to neutralize its acidity. Science = delicious.
#Hashtag the Heck Outta This 🍰
#DevilsFoodCakeDay #ChocolateLoversUnite #SinfullySweet #CakeIsLife #May19Madness #DarkDessertEnergy #IndulgeResponsibly #FudgeYourRules
