Devil Dogs (Pioneer Woman)

Devil dogs?

What is that?

I have never heard of this until I read Ree (The Pioneer Woman) describes Devil Dogs in her blog. Devil dog is a chocolate cake dessert with cream sandwiched between two layers of chocolate cake.

Ree Drummond is an award-winning American food blogger. She is also book author, food writer, photographer and television personality. Ree blogs and I blog but why is she so famous and I'm not? - LOL!

Her blog, The Pioneer Woman, documents her daily life as a ranch wife and mother of 4 and showcased lots of her cowboy cooking and baking. Ree has a cheerful, creative and quirky personality. She is never afraid of expressing her motherly aspect way of cooking which gain lots of attention and respect from me. Do check her confessions of being a Pioneer woman and witness her colourful personality yourself...  I wish that I can be as famous as Ree. Who knows? Maybe?... For fame or no fame and being a desperate working housewife plus mum means that I have to bake and cook anyway and so I might as well try to learn to cook like Ree :p

Ree made her devil dogs with her "The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever" and "That's the Best Frosting I've Ever Had". I noticed that Ree likes using such bombastic words to describer the recipes that she really like. Being a straightforward person, I'm totally convinced by her descriptions and can't wait to try out these recipes...

Here are my devil dogs. My verdict? Let see...

Devils dogs... devilishly delicious?

Super-easy chocolate sheet cake recipe!

Just melt, boil, mix and bake!

The cake is very moist and yet easy to handle.

Flour in frosting? This is new to me!

Assembling the devil dogs...

Ready to make another one?...

No... Let me enjoy this one first!

Are these devil dogs devilishly enough? Here are my verdict...

Pioneer Woman's The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever 
I must say that this is a great fail-proof recipe. The cake is extremely easy to bake and all I need to do is just melt, boil, mix and bake. Texture-wise, the cake is fantastic! It is moist and also easy to handle. Taste-wise, the cake is good but it is not the extremely rich kind with chocolate.  
Pioneer Woman's That's the Best Frosting I've Ever Had
At first, I must confess that I do feel a little skeptical of having this flour mixture in any cake frosting. After this bake, I can see the positive sides of this recipe. Unlike all buttery frosting, this frosting is indeed deliciously creamy, very stable and stays very well in shapes after piping. I like its texture and taste and don't mind the existence of the floury taste at all. However, I still think that this is not the best frosting that I've ever tasted. - Sorry, Ree!

Devil Dogs 
I love it! This combination of chocolate cake, frosting and cherries in this dessert is fantastic. It is truly a great enjoyment eating this - as you can see in my last picture.

Here are the recipes from Pioneer Woman
(with my modification in blue)

Devil Dogs
Chocolate Sheet Cake (Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever)
"That's The Best Frosting I've Ever Had"
Maraschino Cherries (I used canned pitted cherries)

Bake cake accordingly, thoroughly greasing and flouring the pan. Allow cake to cool completely, then turn out onto a flat surface.

Make frosting recipe, substituting half-and-half for milk for extra thickness/richness (I didn't do the substitution and choose to stick to milk.)  

Cut cooled cake into rectangles (or squares).

Place frosting into a frosting bag. Squeeze frosting onto one rectangle (square) of cake. Place some cherries on top of the frosting. Press second rectangle (square) on top. Squeeze a dollop of frosting on the top piece of cake. Place a cherry on top.

Chill until ready to serve!

The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
(reduced to 150g for half of the recipe)
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp (heaping) cocoa
(used 20g for half of the recipe)
2 sticks butter
(used 100g of butter for half of the recipe)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 whole beaten eggs
1 tsp baking soda
(replaced with baking powder)
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a mixing bowl, combine and sift flour, sugar, and salt (and baking powder).

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.

Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 secs, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda (I didn't add this), and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into a 18" x 13" (or 9" square for half amount of the recipe) cake pan and bake at 350°F (or 160°C fan forced) for 20 mins.

Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever. - totally agree!

That's the Best Frosting I've Ever Had
5 tbsp flour
1 cup milk (or half-and-half)
(I used milk)
1 tsp vanilla
(I used 1/4 tsp vanilla paste for 1/4 amount of recipe)
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar (not powdered sugar!)

Bake your favorite chocolate cake and let it cool.

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don't want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven't beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.

Grab a spoon and taste this wonderful goodness. If there is any left after your taste test, spread it on a cooled chocolate cake. - Ops! How did Ree know that I did that too?

This frosting on chocolate cake is to die for. Sure, the recipe sounds strange -- it has flour in it -- but it's sublime. Try it, you'll see. You'll love it so much you won't go back.

Note: Using 1/4 of this frosting recipe, I have enough frosting to make 4 devil dogs.

Happy Baking
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