Moist Devil's Food Cake (Triple Layer)

This cake is moist and devilish, and it's three layers of decadent heaven.

1 1/2 cups butter
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups sifted cake flour* (I use regular flour; use one cup minus two tablespoons all-purpose flour for every cup of cake flour.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk

1 recipe Melt-in-your-Mouth Chocolate Frosting (found below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with 2 racks centered. Butter (or use vegetable shortening) 3 8"x2" round cake pans and dust with cocoa powder. Sift the 3/4 cup baking cocoa into a bowl, whisk in the boiling water, set aside, and let cool. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar while beating until mixture is fluffy. Beat in vanilla and then gradually drizzle in beaten eggs, beating after each addition until batter isn't slick. Sift flour, soda, and salt. Whisk milk into cooled cocoa mix. On low speed, add flour mixture and cocoa mixture alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Divide into the 3 pans. Bake for about 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Transfer pans to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes and then remove cakes from pans to cool, top-sides up.

Save best layer for top. Place one layer on platter, top with 1 1/2 cups frosting, and repeat with second layer. Top with third layer and cover outside of cake with remaining 3 cups frosting.

I also added a layer of wild raspberry jam under each layer of the chocolate ganache, and I embellished the top with semisweet chocolate curls and white chocolate cutouts.

To make chocolate curls, melt 1 cup semisweet chocolate with 1/2 tablespoon shortening and spread thinly on a cookie sheet. Let cool until firm but still somewhat yielding. Using a metal spatula, scrape the chocolate off in curls. (I can't explain this very well. Just google it or look in a cookbook...)

For white chocolate cutouts, simply melt one cup white chocolate, spread onto a cookie sheet, and let sit until firm but still somewhat yielding. Cut out desired shapes and let chocolate completely harden. Then, pluck your little shapes off the cookie sheet and press them on your cake, in whatever manner you'd like.