Devilish Devil's Food Cupcakes

Has your ganache cracked? Don't stress!

Ganache is a tricky icing that can be super easy, but it can crack very easily. Ganache should look smooth and shiny but sometimes the mixture cracks and looks greasy and appears like the early stages of burnt chocolate. Don't PANIC! There is a SUPER easy fix. When the ganache cracks, gradually add in teaspoon amounts of milk and keep mixing until the ganache comes back to that lovely shiny look.

Today, I am going to share with you my secret weapon. This is a devils food cake that is aptly named because it has to be sinful to indulge in something so amazing! I came across this recipe a little while ago and it was originally a full sized cake, but I brought it down to individual cakes to save myself from overconsumption...

If you hadn't noticed by now, I am a bit obsessed with chocolate!

I recently made these cupcakes for my work colleagues as an easter treat. Needless to say, I wasn't taking any spare cakes home...

Devil's Food Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cake:

• 1 cup of boiling water
• 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup of whole milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of unsalted butter (250g), softened
• 1 1/4 cups of packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup of castor sugar
• 4 large eggs

For the sour cream ganache:

• 2 cups of dark chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups of sour cream
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Method:

For the cakes:

Preheat the oven to 180'C and line muffin tins with decorative patties. This mixture will make more than 12 cupcakes because it is a full cake recipe~ 24 cupcakes. (If making a cake- grease and line 3x 20cm cake tins with baking paper.)

Whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in the milk and vanilla. Set aside. In another bowl sift the flour, baking soda and salt.

With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar (both brown and castor) until pale and fluffy, the add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In alternating batches, add the flour and cocoa mixtures, starting and ending with the flour mixture. (The batter will look curdled- but this is NORMAL!)

Divide batter into the tins (if making a whole cake use 3x 20cm round tins and smooth the tops). Bake the cupcakes for about 18 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean (20-25 minutes for a cake). Once out of the oven, cool completely.

For the sour cream ganache:

Melt the chocolate using a double boiler, once melted remove the top bowl from the heat and whisk in the sour cream then vanilla. (I find that this can be really tricky to not split, I find that mixing really quickly helps and also making sure that the sour cream is at room temperature makes a big difference). Let the ganache come to room temperature and stir occasionally to ensure it remains that beautiful, shiny appearance.

Assembly:

With a piping bag, pipe the sour cream ganache to the top and decorate the tops to suit your tastes!

Alternative ideas:

• For a bundt cake: bake the cake for 35-40 minutes. Drizzle a ganache over the top.
• Brown Sugar Buttercream:
• http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/brown-sugar-buttercream-104580