Devils Food Cupcakes With Chocolate Ganache Frosting

DEVIL'S FOOD CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.
• Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
• To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting.

FUDGY DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Butter parchment; dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. Whisk in sour cream; let cool, then whisk in chocolate. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to combine after each addition; scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two parts, alternating with the cocoa mixture and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined.
• Divide batter between prepared pans (or muffin tins lined with paper liners); smooth with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes (18 to 20 minutes for cupcakes).
• Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; peel off parchment. Re-invert cakes; let cool completely, top sides up.
• Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cake layers to level. Transfer a cake layer to a cake turntable or platter to frost. Using an offset spatula, spread 3/4 cup frosting on top. Set remaining cake layer into place.
• Spread remaining frosting over entire cake, swirling to coat. Serve immediately, or cover with a cake dome and refrigerate; let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

DEVIL'S FOOD CUPCAKES WITH CHOCOLATY FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Place chocolate in a small bowl. Pour hot coffee over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool to lukewarm., In a large bowl, beat sugar, oil, egg and coffee mixture until well blended. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to coffee mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition., Fill prepared cups two-thirds full. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, place chocolate chips in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream and corn syrup just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; stir with a whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate, covered, until completely cold., Beat chocolate mixture on medium speed just until fluffy (do not overbeat). Immediately spread over cupcakes. For monster eyes, trim both ends of each gumdrop. Attach a chocolate chip to one end; attach gumdrop to lollipop. Insert into cupcakes. Refrigerate cupcakes until serving.

DEVIL'S FOOD CUPCAKES WITH CHOCOLATE ICING

Steps:

• Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place a cupcake liner into each section of an 8-cupcake tin. Whisk together flours, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and reserve. Combine sour cream and buttermilk in a small bowl and reserve. Combine butter, oil and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides of bowl, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg and egg white and beat an additional 1 minute. Add 1/3 of flour-cocoa mixture, then 1/3 sour cream buttermilk mixture, mixing well after each addition. Repeat with remaining dry and wet ingredients. Distribute batter evenly among 8 cupcake tins. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool slightly, transfer to wire racks and cool completely, 10 to15 minutes.
• Combine confectioners' sugar and milk in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Add chocolate and stir until melted and icing is the consistency of thick pancake batter; add more milk if necessary. While still warm, top each cupcake with 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons icing. Let icing harden completely, about 10 minutes.
• Place cream cheese in a small microwave-save bowl and microwave on high for approximately 10 to 15 seconds, until cream cheese is melted but before it begins to bubble. Add confectioners' sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Let mixture cool slightly and transfer to a small plastic bag. Snip just the very bottom corner of the bag, then force icing to bottom of bag. Pipe a squiggle of icing down the center of each cupcake.

PEANUT-FILLED DEVIL'S FOOD CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners., In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until crumbly. Add vanilla; beat in eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. In another bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and baking powder; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk and coffee just until blended., Filled prepared cups half full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 15-20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks; cool completely., Using a melon baller, scoop out the center of each cupcake, about 1 inch deep. For filling, beat peanut butter and butter until fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Pipe or spoon about 1 tablespoon filling into the center of each cupcake., For ganache, place chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Spoon scant 1 tablespoon ganache over each cupcake, spreading as needed. Sprinkle with peanuts. Refrigerate until set, about 20 minutes. Refrigerate leftovers.

DEVIL'S FOOD CUPCAKES WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE FROSTING

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
• Melt chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. In a bowl, stir baking soda into the boiling water; stir this mixture into chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly.
• Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until the mixture is light and pale yellow in color. Add eggs, one at a time, and continue to mix until thoroughly incorporated. Add flour and buttermilk, alternating between small amounts of each, and blend well.
• Add the melted chocolate and vanilla to the batter, and stir well. Pour the batter into the paper cups, and bake until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of a cupcake, about 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the oven, and allow them to cool briefly in the muffin tin before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely. Ice, and serve.