Devil's Food

The combination of sour milk and baking soda creates a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide, giving this early chocolate cake its tender crumb and characteristic devil's food darkness. Adding boiling water to cocoa "blooms" it, intensifying the chocolate flavor by releasing aromatic compounds. The soda also raises the pH, darkening the cocoa and creating the signature reddish-brown color that distinguished devil's food from regular chocolate cake in the early 1900s.