Devil’s Food Cake is just that, Devil’s Food Cake. It has every part of what it takes to be a devil’s favorite dessert: a delicious melt-in-your-mouth chocolate icing, a spongy yet flavorful decadent chocolate cake mixed sometimes with dried sweet red cherries, and the air of ‘Please eat me.’
A correctly-made Devil’s Food Cake is much more than what meets the eye, although what meets the eye is already almost overwhelming. Devil’s Food Cake possesses the alluring gravitational forces that pull us toward it. What is the special ingredient that draws us to that specific cake? If it were gluten-free, could it be the cassava flour? Could it be the pure cane sugar? Could it be the cocoa powder refined from the obscure yet luscious parts of Africa? Yes, but I’m not talking about any worldly ingredients. I’m talking about something spiritual, the need to satisfy the sweet tooth with layers of sugary chocolate instead of simply just eating an organic apple.
So why do we crave confectionary items as opposed to the fruit that God created as our dessert back in the days of The Garden of Eden? I speculate that we are naturally rebellious creatures to all things wholesome and healthy who want that quick sugar rush while still going on a roller coaster ride through Flavortown. We want that melt-in-your-mouth chocolate because the smell tempts us and because it sends our taste buds to a magical place, but only temporarily.
Why are we creatures who want mind-blowing yet temporary fixes to our sugar craving, knowing that too much of it can lead to a severe case of diabetes and an imbalance of our diet? Some of us have control over temptations and know when to say yes or no. Others of us do not. We get addicted to the sugar, the taste of chocolate decadence in our mouths, and the experience of sitting at the table with a fork in our hands as we eye the cake with delight.
We give into whims by the author of tricks and temptations. We saw this author in the Garden of Eden tempting Eve not with Devil’s Food Cake, but a forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That author said that if she were to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree, she would have the same knowledge as God does, as shown in Genesis 3:1-6 (KJV).
Genesis 3:1-6 (KJV): 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
As Eve was told by the serpent that the forbidden fruit would lead her to being like a god, we are told by pastry chefs like Betty Crocker that the Devil’s Food Cake will lead us to happiness and stress relief. So we eat this delicious cake, and they are right, it does lead to happiness and stress relief; however, they don’t tell you that too much of it will hurt your stomach because of sugar overload and that it could have adverse affects on your glucose level in the long run if you become addicted.
This author of tricks and temptation did not tell Eve that she will be banished from the Garden of Eden and that childbirth will be painful as a result of taking a bite out of that forbidden fruit. She wasn’t told that she, Adam, her children, and their children will have to work in the fields for eternity.
Genesis 3:7-19 (KJV): 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
History repeats itself with Devil’s Food Cake, the most delicious of all cakes and yet the most dangerous because of its potential to cause addiction. It feeds the body, but not the soul, just like the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Xara Nahara 