National Devil's Food Cake Day
About National Devil's Food Cake Day
When is National Devil's Food Cake Day? This holiday is always celebrated on May 19
Today is a holiday to celebrate your true love. C’mon admit it. You’re in love with chocolate. As a result, you and all of the other chocoholics of the world are going to love National Devil’s Food Cake Day. On this May 19 holiday, leave your halo and the angel food cake on the kitchen counter. Rather, indulge your taste buds in the intense flavor of this dark and velvety cake. If you’ve never tried this cake before, today is the perfect opportunity for you to join millions of other chocolate lovers as they indulge in a culinary thrill. Without a doubt, you’ll be reaching for a second slice of this sweet cake. We won’t tell anyone if you go off of your diet for just one day to make your sweet tooth happy. And if you get caught, just tell people “The devil made me do it!”
Devil’s Food Cake is distinctly different from other chocolate cakes. Most notably, it is made with cocoa, instead of chocolate squares used in making regular chocolate cake. This gives it a more intense flavor. Additionally, a few other different ingredients, and a slightly altered way of making it, result in a velvety cake that is moister, darker, richer, and airier than other chocolate cakes.
Favorite Movies: The Devil Wears Prada (2006), The Devil and Miss Jones (1941, 1973)
National Devil's Food Cake Folk Lore
Yes, when it comes to this devilish cake, there’s myth and mystery around its origin. And, we know the devil is in the details.
According to one popular legend, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City created this cake at the beginning of the 20th century. The rich and velvety cake has somewhat different ingredients from the traditional chocolate cake. One customer in particular loved it very much. She asked for the recipe the hotel used. The hotel provided it to her for a price. On her bill, they charged her $100 for the recipe. Strangely, we found no record to suggest she paid for it. We suspect she did.
The origin of Devil’s Food Cake is disputable. Printed reference to this cake was found several years before the cake was first created in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The first time it was mentioned in print was in an article posted in 1898 in the Hagerstown Exponent, located in Hagerstown, Indiana. In 1902, the recipe for this cake first appeared in a cookbook. It was in Mrs. Rorer’s New Cook Book written by Sarah Tyson Rorer. The cake didn’t become popular until a couple of decades later. Finally, in the 1920s and 1930s, it reached broad appeal as it appeared in articles published by Good Housekeeping and Lawn & Gardens magazines. Then, one by one it was included in various popular cookbooks.
It is also a popular belief that Devil’s Food Cake evolved as a contrast to Angel Food Cake.
How to Celebrate National Devil's Food Cake Day
Participation in this holiday is fun and easy. Here are some ways you can celebrate and enjoy National Devil’s Food Cake Day:
- Eat cake. Eat Devil’s Food Cake.
- Bake a Devil’s Food Cake at home.
- Support your local bakery and buy the cake there.
- Do a taste test. Have a slice of this cake and a slice of Angel Food Cake. Which do you like best!?
- Perform a second taste test. This time, compare Devil’s Food cake to Chocolate cake.
- Have a dinner party. You know what to serve for dessert.
- Bring a Devil’s Food cake to share with co-workers.
- Take a picture of the cake and share it on social media.
- When people ask you why you baked this cake today, tell them “The Devil made me do it!”.
Today's Quotes
“The more you weigh, the harder you are to kidnap. Stay safe. Eat cake.” Author Unknown
“Gossip is the Devil’s radio.” – – George Harrison
“Those who indulge, bulge.” – – Author Unknown
History and Origin of National Devil's Food Cake Day
This holiday appears to have started on or before 1995. It was originally called Devil’s Food Cake Day. In 2014, this was also the name for this holiday when it was referenced in the Teton Medical Center News in Fairfield, Montana. For some unknown reason, the word “National” was added to the title sometime after 2014.
We did not find any congressional records or presidential proclamations to make this a true national day.
Definition of “National” Days – and why it is so important to distinguish and identify true national days.
This Day in History
In addition to International Cake Day, here are some things that happened on this day:
- Ann Boleyn, second wife of English King Henry VIII is beheaded. (1836)
- American actress Meghan Markle marries England’s Prince Harry in a ceremony at Windsor Castle and becomes the Duchess of Sussex. (2018)
- Kyle Eastwood, actor, son of Clint Eastwood was born on this day in (1968)
Related Holidays and Articles
People who celebrate this holiday will also like:
National Chocolate Day – Yes, chocoholics get to celebrate two chocolate-filled holidays.
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