Valentine's Day Devil's Food Sheet Cake with Raspberry Italian Meringue Buttercream Recipe

Today I’m getting in the *holiday* spirit with a fun lil cake for Valentine’s Day! Adrianna Adarme from A Cozy Kitchen inspired this recipe, as I wanted to make a sheet cake because she made them cool again. I saw her mini chocolate sheet cake with raspberry frosting, and since I didn’t have the mini square pan I decided to combine some recipes to make my own cake so I could share it with you guys!I’ve always been intimidated by homemade cakes. First of all, because I really love box mixes and frostings…it took a lot for me to not just pick up a yellow cake mix & chocolate frosting at the store for my coworkers birthday for that taste of nostalgia, and I got too scared to try to recreate that classic combo myself…LOL. So, I settled on a Devil’s Food Sheet Cake with Raspberry Italian Meringue Buttercream. As if that’s any easier…This cake turned out way better than anticipated! After having to make the cake twice due to it sticking to the pan, and my fearing that the buttercream tasted *too* buttery, it somehow came all together and everyone that tried it loved it (thank god). The cake is definitely a new-go to cake recipe, because it has the light airiness of a box mix...but, it's entirely homemade!If you're making Italian Meringue Buttercream, I adapted the recipe from Preppy Kitchen, and the included video on the process was extremely helpful. All I changed from the recipe was add powdered sugar (and kind of a lot of it) because I thought it was too buttery. Then, I flavored it with homemade raspberry purée, which gave the frosting a nice color but did not do too much in regards to flavor, so you could always add more. 

Devil's Food Sheet Cake with Raspberry Italian Meringue Buttercream

For Devil's Food Cake

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup coffee (brewed & hot)
• 1 cup milk (I used Flax Milk from Good Karma)
• 2 eggs (large)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For Raspberry Italian Meringue Buttercream

• 4 egg whites (large & room temperature)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• Pinch salt
• 16 ounces unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 3 tbsp Raspberry Puree (see note)
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups powdered sugar

For Raspberry Puree:

• 1 carton Raspberries (6 oz)
• 2 tbsp sugar

For Devil's Food Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325℉ and grease 9x13in sheet pan and line with parchment paper.

2. Sift together dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, soda, sugar) in large bowl. 

3. Add oil, milk, and hot coffee and mix until blended, about 2 minutes.

4. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix for 2 more minutes. Batter will be very runny. Don't be scared!

5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes (30 minutes if using 2 8 or 9 inch circle cake pans) or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

For Raspberry Purée

1. Put washed raspberries & sugar into a small baking dish (I used a loaf pan)

2. Bake for 10 minutes until softened (I did this while the cake baked at 325℉.

3. Add raspberries and juiced into blender & blend until smooth.

4. Strain to remove seeds in a small bowl and let cool before adding to frosting.

For Raspberry Italian Meringue Frosting

1. In a small saucepan, add 1 cup granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water and place on medium-low heat.

2. Stir until sugar dissolves.

3. Separate room temperature eggs & add whites to KitchenAid stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment & begin to beat to form soft peaks.

4. Add salt & cream of tartar.

5. Add remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar.

6. Watch boiling sugar syrup and wait until it reaches 240℉ and drizzle into mixer bowl (while beating) immediately.

7. Run the mixer on a medium-high speed until the bowl becomes room temperature (it will be HOT) to form stiff peaks. Speed up process by placing frozen vegetables around the outside bowl to cool it down faster.

8. Switch to a paddle attachment and add butter one tablespoon sliver at a time and wait until incorporated. The icing will look like it melted, but don't worry! It comes together in between sticks 3 and stick 4.

9. Add salt and cooled raspberry purée and beat until combined with a fluffy consistency.

10. At this point, if you feel it's too buttery like I did, add in 2 cups of sifted powdered sugar and beat until combined.

Decorating the cake is easy- it doesn't have to be perfect! I simply plopped some dollops of frosting onto the cake, made sure the whole thing was iced, then had a little fun adding some swoops with a big offset spatula. To clean up the sides, just clean your spatula and run the spatula along the side of the cake! I topped the cake with tiny conversation hearts because I left my box of sprinkles at my parents house 😭. Yes, I have a sprinkles box. Leave me alone.Want more Valentine's Day recipes? I've posted a few before including Fortune Cookie Valentines & Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies! Watch the videos below 👇Shop my Kitchen Favorites on my Amazon page and find some tools & ingredients I like to use!