Turn A Box Of Devil's Food Cake Mix Into An Easy And Decadent Depression-Era Dessert

Devil's food cake mix is the more chocolate-forward, darker, and airier counterpart to a standard chocolate cake mix. It's also the start of an Appalachian-born, Depression-era dessert known as the Coal Miner's cake. While the cake's origin story isn't known, the Coal Miner's cake is said to come from coal mining communities around Appalachia, where home cooks turned to cheap pantry staples and canned and boxed goods to whip up easy yet hearty desserts. The recipe started appearing in the '30s and '40s, and has become a family favorite for every generation since.

The Coal Miner's cake needs only a box of Devil's food cake mix, a can of cherry pie mix, and two eggs for the batter. The cake mix takes the effort out of combining the dry ingredients, while the eggs and cherry pie filling add moisture, fluffiness, and a unique flavor and texture. Simply mix the ingredients into a lumpy, super-thick batter, pour it into a greased baking dish, and bake. The cherry-and-chocolate combination is reminiscent of a Black Forest cake recipe, and some recipes call it an Appalachian Black Forest Cake. Plus, when mixed and baked, the deep, nearly-black hue of the cake, along with the lumps of whole cherries, makes each slice look like a veritable lump of coal — a very tasty one at that! 

While three ingredients are all you need for an ultra-moist, easy Coal Miner's cake, you can always add more to improve it further. Add chocolate chips to the batter and sprinkle them on top before baking for pockets of molten chocolate that will contrast with the gooey cake and the tender pop of the whole cherries. Add vanilla extract for aromatic goodness and to enhance the cake's chocolate flavor. Almond, cherry, and even coffee extract would also work well for complementary aromatic flavors. The cake's moisture and gooeyness don't require frosting, but it can still add an extra layer of decadence. To keep up with the semi-homemade theme, you can use store-bought chocolate frosting. To lean more into the Black Forest theme, top the chocolate frosting with dollops of whipped cream or Cool Whip. Decorate the top of the cake with maraschino cherries or a drizzle of cherry compote for a more natural cherry flavor.

You can also add crunch with a topping of toasted almond slivers, which pairs well with the cherries and chocolate. And, of course, no cake is complete without ice cream. Vanilla ice cream is the perfect complementary scoop to this rich chocolate cake, but you can also double up on the cherries and chocolate with a pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia.