Moist Devil's Food Cake (and an award)

Last week, I offered to make a cake for one of my friends who was celebrating her birthday. In my opinion, since birthdays are celebratory events, they are perfectly legitimate reasons to indulge in dessert, and what better dessert to indulge in than a rich, moist, devil's food cake entirely covered in silky, dark chocolate frosting. No. No diet rules here. This is one day we should all be allowed to just eat cake. Even if it is someone else's birthday. I found this recipe at Martha Stewart's website; for the best cakes, must consult the guru right? Although it was quite labor intensive and highly time consuming, the end result was well worth it. I made no alterations to the recipe but, while it called for the forsting to be chilled for two hours, I found that it took almost four hours to set.

Moist Devil's Food Cake (Adapted from Martha Stewart)

Makes one 8-inch round layer cake

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pans
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, plus more for pans
1/2 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups sifted cake flour, not self-rising
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange two racks in center of oven. Butter three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment. Dust bottoms and sides of pans with cocoa powder; tap out any excess. Sift cocoa into a medium bowl, and whisk in 1/2 cup boiling water. Set aside to cool.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on low speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides twice. Beat in vanilla. Drizzle in eggs, a little at a time, beating between each addition until the batter is no longer slick, scraping down the sides twice.
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk milk into reserved cocoa mixture. With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour and cocoa mixtures to the batter, a little of each at a time, starting and ending with flour mixture.
4. Divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center of each layer comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes, rotating the pans for even baking. Transfer layers to wire racks; let cool, 15 minutes. Turn out cakes, and return to racks, tops up, until completely cool.
5. Remove parchment from bottoms of cakes. Reserve the prettiest layer for the top. Place one cake layer on a serving platter; spread 1 1/2 cups chocolate frosting over the top. Add the second cake layer, and spread with another 1 1/2 cups frosting. Top with third cake layer. Cover outside of cake with the remaining 3 cups frosting. Serve.

Chocolate Frosting
Makes 6 cups

24 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
4 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon honey

1. Place chocolate chips and cream in a heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until combined and thickened, between 20 and 25 minutes. Increase the heat to medium low; cook, stirring, 3 minutes more. Remove pan from heat.
2. Stir in honey. Transfer frosting to a large metal bowl. Chill until cool enough to spread, about 3 to 4 hours, checking and stirring every 15 to 20 minutes. Use immediately.

Another bit of sweetness is this blog award I received yesterday from Zerrin at Give Recipe. Thanks Zerrin! The rule is to pass it on to other deserving bloggers, and here they are:
Sweet Foods
Tri to Cook
The Hungry Mouse
Be Foodie
The Pink Peppercorn
Kitchen Tantra
Zesty Cook
Broken Yolks