Last Updated on December 14, 2024 by Lisa Keys
This post for homemade devil dogs has been updated with more detailed instruction on how to make the ermine butter cream filling.
Homemade devil dogs are among my most popular recipes. If you love vintage desserts that bring back memories then you will love my copycat recipe for this snack. Including layers of chocolate cake, a cream filling and a chocolate glaze drizzle this recipe is comfort food at its best and bound to transport us back to simpler times.
Why develop a recipe for devil dogs
Following Christmas and the new year celebrations, I live a little on the edge of darkness. It revolves around the fact that during the last 5 years of William’s life (in the Navy) that I often only got to see him for brief periods during the holidays. I treasured those days and so looked forward to them.
There are times I still feel he is just “away” and I will see him again. It's a disappointment when the visit doesn't actually happen. Camp LeJeune got the best of him in his final days and I resent that a bit. He should be here, but he isn't. So, I bake.
The Best Devil Dog Memories
I close my eyes and ask for strength. My grandpa Matino greets me on the front porch of his house with his vintage green alligator change purse. His old, calloused hands gently shake and the jingling of coins opens my eyes to a nickel in my palm and a kind smile on his face. "It’s enough to buy a devil dog cake down at the corner store."
At 7 years old I can stop in to Mr. Ortlip's grocery before or after school, all by myself, and buy that cream-filled chocolate treat. It’s powerful and sweet. It’s love and a kind reminder from my grandpa that I am stronger than I think at this moment in time. Just close your eyes. Take a deep breathe.
It was very early 1900's when my grandfather left Sicily and landed essentially penniless at Ellis Island. The story goes that the Italian mafia attempted to entice him into "the family" by offering him a gun and a "job". Scared out of his mind he boards the first train out of New York City and hops off an hour later when out the window he spies a sign for an Italian restaurant.
"Ah, Italian people must live here." Westfield, NJ is where my grandfather landed a job hauling coal and lumber by horse and wagon. By 1920, he was building his first home. My dad was born and I was raised in Westfield thanks to grandpa's courage.
I wish I had that old green change purse. Maybe one of my siblings or maybe a cousin inherited it and treasure it as much as I do. Who knew the power of a nickel? Some day, when she is older, I will give my grand-daughter "a nickel" every time I see her.
Now for a baking project to bring me back to reality. It's baking therapy 101. This recipe is pretty close to what I remember an authentic snack cake to be. It has a nostalgic charm not to mention a military connection. It was during WWl when American soldiers humorously referred to themselves as Devil Dogs.
The flavor and texture
I tweaked the recipe a bit amping up the cocoa flavor with some salt, vanilla and espresso powder and changed a raw flour buttercream to a cooked version. The buttercream is kind of amazing even though the addition of shortening kind of freaks me out.
I think shortening is used for its pure white color only. Have you ever tried an ermine frosting? This creamy filling is a version of that and just so smooth.
Devil Dog Baking Tips
Just a couple of baking tips before we get to the recipe. First, I know you want to skip the sifting of the dry ingredients, but don't do it. Not only does it aerate the mixture, but it also gets rid of lumpy baking soda and cocoa powder. No lumps allowed. Second, room temperature ingredients do make a difference for a light and fluffy cake. Finally, gild that lily with some melted dark chocolate or a dusting of powdered sugar. Who says devil dogs can't be fancy?
Devil Dogs
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup milk, room temperature
Ermine Butter Cream Filling
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Heat oven 425F. Line baking sheets with parchment.
- In large bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, espresso powder and salt; whisk it to blend and set aside.
- In another bowl, beat butter and sugar for 5 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add ⅓ of dry ingredients alternating with half the milk beating well after each addition and scraping down bowl as needed.
- Spoon batter into a zippered plastic bag; seal bag. Snip off a ½-inch piece of one corner.
- Pipe batter into 3-inch logs about 1½ to 2-inches wide and 2-inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake 8 minutes. Cool.
- Turn half the cakes over and pipe or spread flat sides with cream filling.
- Cover with remaining cakes, flat side down.
- For the filling: In a small saucepan over medium-low heat whisk flour, milk and salt until blended and no lumps remain. Cook mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it thickens, pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a smooth ball. This will take at least 5 minutes of hard stirring with the wooden spoon until the dough leaves a skin in the pan and is not sticky.
- Transfer dough to a bowl. Let it cool for 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar; stir it in until it looks smooth and dough has loosened up. It will appear more liquid.
- In another bowl, beat butter and shortening until blended. Add vanilla and beat well. Gradually add sugar mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until mixture is smooth, thick and fluffy.
Kim
I officially love these! I especially love the history and story behind them. It's funny, but I don't end up making many of the recipes that I see on blogs (don't know why). HOWEVER, I will be trying this one out and tweaking it to make it gluten free. Thanks for sharing.
Lisa
My memories help me a lot with cooking. Many recipes simply come from my heart. I'd love to know more about the gluten-free version you come up with as my niece is GF and loves chocolate. Keep me posted and thanks for trying my recipe.
Tracy Matino
Didn't know the "family" story. I had Ava read it too so she knows more about her ancestry. Ava is planning on baking these today. Will let you know how we make out.
Lisa
send me some photos-excited she wants to try the recipe
James Matino
Very nice story. I remember grandpa Matino pretty well. He would make me use a siphon to fill up a bottle of his nasty home-made wine for him. I would get a mouthful to get the siphon going, and I have hated alcohol ever since. He was smart. He knew it would ruin me for drinking.
Lisa
That's a great story and one I had never heard. I can see the grapevines behind his house and remember the barrels in the basement. I think his wine was not the best. Daddy said after a few glasses grandpa liked to sing.
Marcie Ziskind
Unfortunately, I now completely understand what everyone was saying about being affected by the holidays. I don't even celebrate Christmas, but I definitely cried all day on new year's eve. When does the reeling out of control feeling stop? Or does it. Thinking of you.
Lisa
I don't think the reeling stops but the episodes get less frequent. There are certain triggers that get me every time---a favorite song has me convinced I should stop listening to the radio. Close your eyes and take a deep breath and remember how much he loves you my friend
Lou Matino
Great story. He died before I was born. Glad you have nice memories of him.
Lisa
I was very young when he died and funny how he spoke no English--at least that is what I remember. Can you imagine how he valued that nickel?
Fran Matino Homicki
Lisa thank you so much for the memories of long ago. I too, remember grandpa singing when he came up from the basement. He would walk to our house on Pierson St. and knock on the window. He was fun, no worries and enjoyed that nasty wine. Those were the good old days when we all lived so close together. Its funny, the simple things in life made us happy. I am lucky that I remember both grandma and grandpa. Life was simple - uncomplicated!
Lisa
We were very lucky to live so close and grow up together. Love hearing your grandpa story. Maybe we should gather as many stories as we can and add them to that family cookbook we did years ago.
patcook1
Beautiful heart-warming story, Lisa. Those devil dogs remind me of gobs.
Lisa
I have not heard of "gobs"...I just had to look them up--kind of like our PA whoopee pies---maybe the only difference is the shape
patcook1
Yep....gobs and whoopee pies are one and the same.
Doreen
My daughter, Lis sent me this post. She knows how much I used to love devil dogs. As a child going to parochial school, my mother sometimes put one in my brown lunch bag. Many years later when I was going through a tough time in my life and things got really hard sometimes I would stop and buy a package of devil dogs. I must've raved about them one too many times to a friend of mine. She went out and purchased a box and tried them. She later told me that they were horrible and full of junk and not at all good. She couldn't understand why I liked them so much and what power they held for me. She just chalked it up to my craziness. But I knew it was some kind of link to Iove for me. And a bit of kid fun when I could stop being an adult for a moment and put my struggles aside. I don't eat devil dogs anymore and I eat a plant based diet now, but it sure sounds appealing to try your recipe and make my own!
Lisa
of course devil dogs are a love-link for you....Why deprive yourself of something so good for your soul? Many of my recipes link me to loving ancestors and it fills my heart....switch the animal products to a suitable vegetable based ingredient and go for it. Earth Balance makes baking butter substitutes and maybe almond milk in place of dairy. I am guessing the local health food store has some kind of an egg substitute, too
Virginia
Here I am up at 3:25 a m reading recipes. I just had a slice of zucchini bread I made today. Then made upside down cupcake with my 8 year old grandson. Rainy day. A treat for him since he is diabetic. Oh how I lived devil dogs. In high school I became allergic to milk products and had to stop eating them. I am the youngest of 13. It was a big treat for us to see a box come home from the grocery store. My first job was at the town bakery yet devil dogs were still my favorite treat. I will try these next weekend with my grandson.
Lisa
Welcome Virginia. I am so glad you found me this morning and took the time to comment. I hope my recipe for devil dogs brings back everything wonderful you remember about them. I think you can easily sub out the dairy products with plant based options for butter and milk and get similar results.
Sarah’s Daughter
It’s delicious! Rejoice!
Lisa
I'm so glad you like it. Thanks for the comment.
Lisa Keys
Love when a recipe tastes just like what I remembered.
Jaimie Titus
The buttercream did not turn out. I ended up making my own.
Lisa Keys
Thanks for trying the recipe. Can you tell me what went wrong with the buttercream? Any insight for improvement is appreciated.
Holly Federico
This recipe is very similar to my mom's so I know it has to be close. Mom's recipe says to chill the cooked dough well before adding the sugar. I followed this recipe and the powdered sugar just melted and made a mess. The other thing i noticed is that shortening these days isnt as solid as it used to be so maybe use all butter instead? i didn't try that trick yet but I may need to on attempt #3 to get a decent filling.
Lisa Keys
Thanks for your comment today. I hope I can trouble shoot what went wrong for you. I actually updated the filling recipe today with more detailed instructions and process photos. The fact that after adding the powdered sugar the mixture looked melted is the way it is supposed to be. It makes the cooked mixture much easier to whip up with the fats creating a fluffy smooth mixture. You can definitely use all butter. I do use the butter directly from the fridge and beat it with the shortening and vanilla until homogeneous.
RLS
Amazing recipe! I used only margarine, no shortening or butter for the icing. It came out a little more yellow but was still delicious. I also substituted water for the milk to keep the cake and icing dairy free. It didn't seem to make any difference. The devil dogs came out delicious!
Lisa Keys
Thank you so much for this helpful and kind comment. It makes me so happy to know this recipe worked well for you. I'm grateful that you shared the variations of ingredients as others who can't have dairy will love to know this works.
Danielle
and this recipe be used to make a cake not just the individual little devil dog cakes?
Lisa Keys
Hi Danielle. Thank you for this question. I have not tried this as a cake, but I think it will work. Grease your pan, add a parchment round at the bottom and adjust the time and temperature according to your cake pan size.
Greta Merchant
I made these. Delicious! Instead of filling the baggie with the cake mix and squirt individual cakes, , I simply spread the cake mix out evenly in A glass baking dish, then baked for 15 to 20 minutes. Once the cake cooled down, I cut into rectangles. Also, no shortening was used. I substituted cream cheese for the shortening.
Lisa Keys
What a great idea to bake in a dish and then cut into rectangles. Thanks for sharing that and the cream cheese frosting. I am grateful that you took the time to help make this recipe even better.