The Devil would approve ;)

I really can't handle hot weather, yeesh... I can't wait until it cools down a bit to the 60s or something like that. Anyway, remember how earlier this week I said I had to bake a bunch of things for a party? #1 was the Key Lime Pie, but #2 was DEVIL'S FOOD CUPCAKES! Normally I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate cake (I'm a die-hard chocolate lover), but this recipe is moist, subtly sweet, and impossible to stop eating! I used this recipe from The Joy Of Cooking cookbook (I highly recommend it; it has all sorts of different recipes for all sorts of occasions), so this is not my original recipe. But it's definitely something you should try out if you enjoy chocolate and/or cake. 

INGREDIENTS

·      4 oz unsweetened chocolate

·      1 cup milk (I used 1%, but anything from skim to whole milk works fine)

·      1 cup packed light brown sugar

·      2 eggs + 1 egg yolk

·      2 cups sifted cake flour

·      1 tsp baking soda

·      ½ tsp salt

·      ¼ cup water

·      1 tsp vanilla extract

·      ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

·      1 cup granulated sugar

Let all of the ingredients come to room temperature (roughly 70ºF). Grease your muffin pans and line with cupcake liners (this recipe can also be used to make a 9-inch cake, so grease your cake pan if you want an actual cake). Combine the chocolate, ½ cup milk, light brown sugar, and egg yolk in a double broiler (this is usually a large pot of boiling water beneath a smaller pot containing the ingredients) and cook until everything is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Combine the cake flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl using a whisk. Combine the rest of the milk, the water, and vanilla extract in another small bowl.

Beat the butter in a large bowl at high speed until creamy like mayonnaise. Gradually add the granulated sugar while beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. Separate the two eggs, placing the two whites in a separate large bowl, and add and beat the two egg yolks one at a time into the butter-and-sugar mixture. On low speed, beat in the flour and milk parts, alternating between adding the flour mixture (do this in 3 parts) and the milk mixture (do this in 2 parts), until the batter is smooth. Stir in the chocolate mixture from earlier.

Using clean beaters, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form stiff, but not dry, peaks. Fold the whites into the batter, and fill the cupcake pans, a bit more than ¾ of the way up the muffin pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pans and leave them to cool to room temperature.

When I made this recipe for the party, I doubled it (the recipe then made 52 typical sized cupcakes) and added some surprise flavors inside! Stay tuned for my recipe for making the four surprise fillings inside! Thanks for reading~ ^_^