The renowned (now closed) Ebinger’s Bakery of Brooklyn made this locally famous devil?s food cake for many years. This version is heaven for chocolate lovers; rich chocolate cake layered with chocolate pudding and covered with chocolate cake crumbs.

Chocolate pudding:
2 tablespoons butter
3 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2-1/4 cups whole milk
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Chocolate Cake:
About 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole milk
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter (1-1/2 sticks), softened
3 large eggs

Prepare chocolate pudding: in 1 quart saucepan, heat butter with both chocolates over low heat until melted and smooth, stirring frequently; set aside.

In 3 quart saucepan, with wire whisk, stir sugar, cornstarch, and cocoa until combined. Gradually mix in milk until blended (mixture will not be smooth). Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, stirring.

In small bowl, with wire whisk, beat eggs slightly. Whisk small amount of hot milk mixture into eggs until smooth. Gradually pour egg mixture back into milk mixture in saucepan, stirring rapidly to prevent lumping. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until very thick.

Remove saucepan from heat; stir in chocolate mixture and vanilla. Pour pudding into bowl; cover surface with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cook and set, at least 3 hours. Makes 3 cups.

Meanwhile, prepare chocolate cake: preheat oven to 350. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with waxed paper; grease paper. Dust pans with cocoa.

On waxed paper, combine flour, 2/3 cup cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In 1 cup glass measuring cup, mix milk and vanilla.
In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beta sugar with butter until blended. Increase speed to high; beat 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium low and add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat until batter is smooth, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Pour batter into prepared pans and spread evenly. Bake 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in centers come out clean. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; run small metal spatula around side of pans to loosen cake; invert cakes onto wire racks to cool completely.

To assemble cake: with serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half to make 4 layers in all. With knife, trip about 1/4 inch off side of cakes to make crumbs for decorating. With hand, crumble cake trimmings into small bowl (you should have about 1-1/2 cups crumbs).

Place 1 cake layer on cake plate. With wire whisk, gently stir cooled pudding in bowl to loosen slightly for easier spreading. Spread 2/3 cup pudding over layer; repeat with remaining 3 layers, using 2/3 cup pudding on each layer and ending with pudding. Use remaining pudding to lightly frost side of cake. Sprinkle some reserved cake crumbs on top of cake; press remaining crumbs onto pudding on side of cake. If not serving cake after 1 hour, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Makes 16 servings. From November 2000 Good Housekeeping magazine.