Devil's food cake - country living holidays

1/4 c  butter or margarine,
           -softened
  1 1/2 c  Sugar
    1/4 t  Salt
      1 T  vanilla
    3/4 c  Unsweetened cocoa
  3 1/2 c  Unsifted cakeflour
      2 t  Baking soda
  2 1/2 c  Water
      4    Egg whites, at room temp.
           Cocoa frosting, recipe
           -follows
           chocolate glaze, recipe
           -follows
           Confectioners' sugar and
           -unsweetened cocoa (opt.
           -for checkerboard
           -decoration)
 
  1. Heat oven to 350'F. Generously grease and flour three 9-inch round
  cake pans.
  
  2. In a large bowl with electric beater or mixer, beat butter, 3/4 C
  sugar, salt, and vanilla together until fluffy.
  
  3. Combine cocoa, flour, and soda in a sifter. Sift into bowl on top
  of butter mixture. Add water and beat at low speed just until smooth.
  
  4. With clean beaters in a medium bowl, beat egg whites until fluffy.
  Gradually add remaining 3/4 C sugar. Continue beating until stiff
  peaks form. Fold, one-third at a time, into chocolate batter.
  
  5. Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake until centers spring
  back when touched-20 to 25 minutes.
  
  6. Cool 5 minutes in pans. Turn out on cooling rack and cool
  completely.
  
  7. Prepare cocoa frosting. Fill and assemble cake. Spread a thin
  smooth layer of frosting over cake. Refrigerate 1 hour.
  
  8. Prepare chocolate glaze. Place chilled cake on a cooling rack with
  a tray underneath it. Spoon glaze onto top of cake. Spread evenly
  allowing glaze to flow down sides. Smooth sides.
  
  9. Place cake, still on cooling rack with tray, in refrigerator until
  glaze is firm.
  
  10. Decorate top with cocoa and confectioners' sugar checkerboard just
  before serving, if desired. Place 1-inch strips of thin cardboard
  gently onto frosting 1-inch apart. Sift unsweetened cocoa over top of
  cake to solidly fill spaces. Carefully remove and clean strips. Place
  gently in opposite direction. Sift confectioners' sugar over cake.
  Remove strips.
  
  Cocoa Frosting: In a medium bowl, beat together 1/3 C softened butter
  or margarine, 1 1/2 lb confectioners' sugar, 1/3 C unsweetened cocoa,
  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 3/4 t vanilla and 1/3 to 1/2 C milk. Use
  to fill and frost cake.
  
  chocolate Glaze: In the top of a double boiler, over hot (not boiling)
  water, melt 6 1-oz squares semisweet chocolate and 4 T  butter. Stir
  in 3 T cold water and 1/4 C confectioners' sugar until smooth. Use to
  glaze a 9-inch cake.
  
  Country Living Holidays/92  Scanned & fixed by Di Pahl &