Every good baker knows that you have to experiment with many different recipes, be willing to tweak ingredients here and there, and be open minded to new ideas when it comes to finding “the one”. That basic cake that you can proudly call the best, the one that we all dream to someday discover, fall in love with, and live happily ever after. For me, those dreams have yet to come true and I ultimately blame it on the fact that I rarely ever focus on vanilla or chocolate cake.

I’ve had many baking experiments in my life and it wasn’t until recently that I realized I haven’t actually made a real attempt to find my go to vanilla or chocolate cake recipe. I’ve definitely had over a dozen experiments with peanut butter cookies (still with no real breakthrough), but never any with cake and I find that surprising. I’m always too eager to jump into a recipe that requires something more unique, more out of the ordinary, and more complex than plain vanilla or chocolate. Maybe it’s simply because I always want to amaze people with something they aren’t used to or maybe I just enjoy a less common flavor, but either way I surely need to find my “one” and David Lebovitz’s recipe for devil’s food cake is a step in that direction.

I love David Lebovtiz, I truly do. His creations are terrific and his books (especially The Perfect Scoop) are a true inspiration. When I discovered that he had a recipe for devil’s food cake I knew I had to try it and boy was I glad that I did. This cake (and even the batter) tastes absolutely sinful and it remains nice and moist for quite some time.

After finding the cake my next mission was to figure out exactly what kind of cupcakes I wanted to make with it. Perhaps I could have another go at the peanut butter cupcakes or keep things simple for once and compliment it with a cream cheese frosting. I did my usual precupcake baking research and came across a recipe for devil’s food cake with raspberry jam buttercream and raspberry truffles at the always sensational Culinary Concoctions by Peabody and at first site I instantly knew this was the recipe I wanted to make!

Devil’s Food Cupcake

(Recipe from David Lebovitz)

• 9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 cups cake flour (Not self-rising. All-purpose flour works too.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup strong coffee (or water)
• 1/2 cup whole or low-fat milk

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
   
2. Sift together cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.
3. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. (If using a standing electric mixer, stop the mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides to be sure everything is getting mixed in.)
4. Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.
5. Pour into lined cupcake pans, about 3/4 of the way full, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Raspberry Jam Buttercream

(Recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody)

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6-8 cups powdered sugar (Any more than 6 was too much for me.)
• 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

1. Place butter and jam in a mixing bowl or an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream until well incorporated, about 2 mintues.
2. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until you reach desired consistency. If frosting gets too thick you can add a little milk to thin it out.

Raspberry Truffles

(Recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody)

• 2 pints fresh raspberries, cleaned and dried
• 5 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

1. Place chocolate and raspberry jam in a heat proof bowl.
2. Bring cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate and jam and let sit for about 3 minutes.
3. Whisk together chocolate mixture. If it is still a little lumpy, put in microwave for a few seconds and whisk again.
   
4. Put ganache into a piping bag and pipe chocolate into fresh raspberries, then let sit in fridge for about 15 minutes.
   

Assembly

1. Using the cone method, cut out the center of each cupcake and fill with raspberry jam.
2. Replace the top  and pipe on raspberry buttercream frosting.
   
3. Top each cupcake with a raspberry truffle and enjoy!

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