Karen DeMasco's Devil's Food Cupcakes

I still remember the first time I ate a Karen DeMasco cupcake. It was back in the days when I worked in a lofty office on the 11th floor of a building near Union Square. I had a corner office with hardwood floors and beautiful views of all the water towers of the area (and a very sweet boss who for some reason worked in the smaller office). I'd ordered lunch that day from 'Wichcraft, a soup and a half sandwich, but when the bag arrived - to this day, I'm not sure why - they'd also included a little plastic container holding one almost-black cupcake, thinly glossed with chocolate icing.

I was and am not a cupcake person. I have never liked buttercream and the aching sweetness of most cupcakes just sent me soaring into shaky-hands territory every time I ate one at an office birthday or baby shower. Nah, I prefered the inside-out cookies from City Bakery (now sadly defunct, the cookies, not the Bakery) or a little pot of Kozy Shack rice pudding for an afternoon sweet snack. Then suddenly, unexpected and alluring, nothing other than a cupcake sat before me. But it wasn't covered in an inch of frosting and it didn't look saccharine at all. I put it aside and ate my lunch, glancing over at the cupcake every once in a while, as if making sure it was still there, hadn't evaporated like a tiny little leprechaun.

Eating it was sort of mind-altering. It was tender as can be, the softest, most delicate crumb I'd eaten in a cupcake, or cake, for that matter, but with the gutsiest, deepest, darkest chocolate flavor ever. I sort of couldn't square the two away in my head together for a while. The thin chocolate icing cap was a textural pleasure and then, poof, suddenly in the middle of the cupcake, I alighted upon a bubble of whipped cream that I wasn't expecting at all. It was, hands down, the best cupcake of my life. Nothing even came close. After that, nothing really deserved to be called cupcake either.

It was for that recipe alone that I couldn't wait for Karen to publish her book. And a few years later, namely, a few weeks ago, I went into the kitchen to bake the first batch of "my" cupcakes.

(Now, let's just all take a moment here and acknowledge that this home baker would never be able to exactly replicate something that a trained pastry chef made on a daily basis. Plus, the exalted memory of a single cupcake eaten over four years ago was going to be tough to live up to. Lastly, I was an idiot and didn't buy a pastry bag with a metal piping tip like I should have. Don't be an idiot.)

The batter for the devil's food cake is relatively easy. You make a cocoa paste, a mixture of the dry ingredients and then a wet mix with creamed butter and sugar, buttermilk and eggs. All three are folded and blended and mixed together until you have a gorgeously creamy, shiny batter. I wanted to spackle my kitchen with this batter, wanted to use it as a face mask, wanted to sculpt a statue out of it. It was so tactile and whippy and glossy.

The batter baked up nicely into dark, domed cakelets. A warning: Whatever you do, don't let these overbake, even for a minute. Err on the side of underbaking rather than overbaking.  It'll make the difference between a moist, tender cupcake and a rather hohum-ish one. The tester shouldn't be entirely clean, but don't let it come out covered in raw batter either.

The rest of the preparation can be pretty fun, granted you have a proper pastry bag with a metal tip. Remember? I didn't, so the rest of my afternoon was spent with a Ziploc bag, a plastic spatula, a paring knife, a bowl of whipped cream, and lots of sweaty, angry cursing. I'll leave it at that. If properly armed, your metal pastry tip gets inserted into the bottom of the cupcake and you squirt cream filling into the cupcake until pressure on the top of the cupcake lets you know you've filled it to capacity. Easy!

The best part, as far as I'm concerned, is dipping the cupcakes into their shiny cap of chocolate ganache. If I was Queen of the World, I'd make a decree banning buttercream frosting for eternity and make the thin, elegant, shiny slip of icing (chocolate, lemon, what-have-you) de rigueur for cupcakes. The original recipe has you use corn syrup in the ganache for stability, but seeing as corn syrup costs something like 10 bucks a bottle here, I left it out with fine results.

Oh, and how did they taste, you're wondering? It's pretty hard to go wrong with a dark chocolate cupcake, tender with buttermilk, fragrant with vanilla and chocolate, a creamy white filling, and that dark bitter top. They're wonderful as far as cupcakes go and were eaten with wide-eyes and professions of love and astonishment.

Did they measure up to that one cupcake consumed at my desk in New York all those years ago? They didn't, of course. But how could they, really? That cupcake was an unexpected gift, a memory frozen in time, a reminder of my old life that will always be suffused with golden light. I will never, ever forget it.

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Cream Filling 
Makes 14-16 cupcakes
Note: The recipe makes for more filling than you'll need and more batter, too (hence the adjusted yield noted in the line above, as opposed to the original recipe). You can bake the cupcakes in batches if you have only one muffin tin, or use small ramekins lined with paper liners. As for the leftover whipped cream filling, eat it for dessert? The ganache topping is meant to be generous, so that you can easily drag your cupcakes through it once or twice for a good, shiny cap.

For the cupcakes:
3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup cake flour
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners, if you have more than one 12-cup muffin tin. Otherwise line a standard 12-cup muffin with liners and then line small ramekins (if you have them) for the remaining batter.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cocoa powder and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water to form a paste; set aside.

3. In another bowl, sift together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the brown sugar with the butter on medium speed until they are well combined with no pieces of butter visible. Add the cocoa paste, making sure to use a spatula to get all the cocoa paste into the mixer bowl. Once this is well combines, add the egg and egg yolk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. In three additions each, add the buttermilk and vanilla extract, alternating with the flour mixture.

5. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full. Bake, rotating the tins halfway through, until the cupcakes spring back to the touch and a tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out mostly clean, 20-25 minutes. Invert the cupcakes onto a wire rack, turn them top side up, and let them cool completely.

For the cream filling:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. To make the filling, combine the cream, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed to soft peaks, about 4 minutes. Put the cream into a pastry bag fitted with a small piping tip. Using a paring knife, make a small cut in the bottom of each cupcake, through the paper, to insert the tip of the pastry bag. Insert the tip of the pastry bag about 1 1/2 inches into a cupcake. Gently squeeze the bag while holding the fingers of your other hand over the top of the cupcake. When you feel a slight pressure on the top of the cupcake, stop filling. Repeat with each cupcake.

For the ganache:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup (optional; I didn't use this)

1. To make the ganache, put the chocolate in a small mixing bowl. Combine the cream and the corn syrup, if using, in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour over the chocolate right away, and stir slowly until all of the chocolate melts and the ganache is silky and shiny.

2. Carefully dip the top of each cupcake in the ganache, tapping gently to remove the excess. Return the cupcakes to the wire rack to let the glaze set up, at least 30 minutes.

3. The cupcakes can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Comments

[Hungry Hollowaiian]

mmm love reading your blog. xx

[Kathryn]

Oh gosh, I am completely with you when it comes to cupcakes. In my experience the 'prettier' a cupcake is, the worse it tastes but I can imagine these tasting pretty darn good.

[Annika]

I didn't quite understand, at first, how you filled the cupcake but now that I do it sounds wonderful and perfect.

[Lisa (dinner party)]

Sigh. I want to reach through my monitor for one of these babies.

[Silver Magpies]

These look simply mouthwatering. I agree with Lisa's comment! Too bad monitors don't work that way!

[Lisa@pobox607]

those look amazing! oh yum!
xo
Lisa@pobox607

[Dawn (KitchenTravels)]

Did you ever try the rice pudding at New York's "Rice to Riches"? I first heard of it a few months ago and have been curious ever since. Living on the opposite coast, however, it's unlikely I'll get a taste any time soon! Perhaps I can console myself with a batch of these lovely cupcakes, instead.

[Luisa]

Dawn - I did, a long time ago! Loved the concept. The pudding was a little too sweet for me, but what an amazing place.

[Candiss]

Those look REALLY good, I always love dark chocolate, love desserts that are not too sickeningly sweet (also not a fan of thick butter cream here) and these just look awesome. I'm adding them to my to do list!

[rachel]

these look amazing! i might try a raspberry filled version for a coworker who has requested chocolate and raspberry for her birthday...

[candice]

wonderful. i was beginning to think i was the only person alive who didn't care for buttercream. it can be awfully pretty, but it's just a bit over the top for me. plus, the sheen of the ganache is so elegant.

[Pamire]

Oh my!! Thanks so much for sharing, both the story and the recipe. Will be making these soon, that's for sure. So nice to see that others share my love of not-too-sweet desserts.
Cocoa and buttermilk make such a great combination. My go-to chocolate cake is the old Laurie Colwin recipe, made in a scalloped tube pan, with cocoa, buttermilk and canola oil.
I assume that you meant that the tester should not come out entirely clean ...

[donaji]

I must try these cupcakes, they look soo good!

[Allison]

Oh wow, this post has me jonesing for one of these cupcakes now! Definitely bookmarking this recipe and must make soon.

[Quoi]

Sounds like a transformative moment of pleasure worth trying to replicate. I skipped immediately to your last sentence, which I always look forward to, and was suffused with just enough golden light to challenge this dank, grey day. Now pass me one of those cupcakes, %&*&*!

[jenny]

I have this cookbook! and I've been eying these cupcakes! alas, I have no pastry bag with a metal tip (and I'm not sure I'm as intrepid as you are when it comes to substituting implements). ;) all the more reason to get the proper kitchen tools soon. these look like just the thing to warm up my kitchen while spring remains in hiatus.

[Anne Marie]

Sounds amazing. If I am given a cupcake with buttercream (or god forbid that shortening frosting), I scrape it all off in favor of the cake. One thing I have been trying lately when making different macarons is to use leftover meringue buttercreams (both the one with egg whites and then the other with egg yellows) on cupcakes. I have a dark chocolate recipe that is really similar to this and I love the light egg-white buttercream on top.

[The Travelling Chopsticks]

I am really not a baker and I'm really not a cupcake person either (and never really understood the fad of cup cakes!) However - I must admit these look fantastic...and I think I just might have to give them a go!

[Wooden Spoon]

Those cupcakes look fantastic! Thank you for sharing them! :-)

I was also curious about the 'inside-out' cookies you mentioned above, trying to wrap my head around what an inside-out cookie might look like, and how it would be made. After searching for them on the internet, I have come up empty handed. Could you describe them to us? Thank you!

[BB]

Pretty much identical to Thomas Keller's recipe in Ad Hoc at Home.

[shez]

That glossy ganache! I must have sat and stared at it for a good minute, without so much as even glancing down the page to read your post. I did read it eventually of course and very much agree that an edible memory, bathed in circumstance and goodwill is near impossible to replicate. No matter how one tries. Sounds like you came very close though!

[jodye @ 'scend food]

As if a devil's food cupcake isn't delicious enough, the ganache on top makes these even more enticing! They look delicious!

[Amy]

Ah, I've never been much of a cupcake girl either. I've never swooned over a cupcake and I don't think I have ever been interested in them enough to attempt baking them at home. But these... these I must try! They sound beyond swoon-worthy!

[Liana]

I'll bet those would be excellent little treats to pull out of the freezer and eat still frozen.

[Adrian J.S. Hale]

I used to work on 23rd St. and had a similar experience with those tantalizing cupcakes. When I had kids, I was convinced that the best thing about living in NYC with a toddler was the excuse to walk to 'Wichcraft for cupcakes more than my fair share. Thanks for posting this. I can't wait to make them at home now that I live clear across the country from them. Oh, and I loved City Bakery's inside-out cookie, too. Have you ever tried their coconut cookie? It stands alone in the coconut confections category. All the best!

[Charlotte]

I've never really understood the allure of cupcakes either. Especially the "boutique" ones with the weight of cupcake buttercream topping on them. But you write so eloquently of your cupcake moment I might have to try these. My cupcake/chocolate loving boy would be in heaven.

[Luisa]

Pamire - yes! Thank you for catching that. Fixed.

Quoi - Thank you!

Anne-Marie - meringue frostings are gorgeous. Love them. The gloss! The swoop!

Wooden Spoon - they were dark chocolate cookies with chunks of white chocolate in them. They were amazing. Seriously, the best cookies of my life? I think. I have no idea what they were actually called, the inside-out cookie was what I called them in my head. :)

BB - Thomas Keller's recipe calls for equal amounts of sour cream and buttermilk, a third of the amount of cocoa, white sugar instead of brown, no vanilla extract at all and three eggs instead of the single egg and egg yolk. There's no cream filling and the frosting is buttercream instead of a glossy ganache. Are you thinking of another recipe?

Adrian - so glad you loved that inside-out cookie too. I never did try the coconut cookie, but now it's on the list of things to eat on my next trip.

[Caroline]

Would it be wrong to make these for Easter?
I don't think anyone will mind the lack of white cake.

[R @ Learning As I Chop]

And now I want a cupcake...

[allyn]

yum. that insane slickness + shine like laquer of a cake frosting has me delerious with want. must try.

p.s. been a long time fan of the blog. your space + stories keep me coming back for more.

[laya]

beautiful, beautiful , beautiful.
your posts make my day, luisa.

[betty]

I wish I have them all here :( they look really adorable and delicious too!

http://lizardcookieshoe.blogspot.com/

[Diana]

Publish your book already!! I LOVE READING THIS BLOG - I can't even explain it! My fellow readers will understand this :)

[C.]

Mmmmm. WOW. Those look to die for.

[firma de contabilitate]

Do you know where i cand find vanilla pure? Or can i do this recipe without it? Thanks for your answer

[Dorothy_LaRue]

Hi Luisa,

Just found you today and wow - so many recipes of yours that I want to try! Thanks for sharing your experiences and the lovely photos. These cupcakes sound heavenly and I've been on a chocolate cake thing lately so looking forward to making them soon!

-Dorothy

[tiffany]

wow! those look so yum!
this is a great website, i've bookmarked this for later! now i have to go eat something because your posts made me hungry :)

[sarah]

I made these for a friend's birthday and they were a huge hit! They reminded everyone of a much better Hostess Cake!

[Brigette]

I love reading your blog and can't wait to try these out!

[Sassy Spatula]

These are sooo perfect i dont think i can eat them... gorgeous, elegant, divine!

[Kristine in Santa Barbara]

I made these this evening. They are very good and very attractive with that shiny slick of ganache! I felt the recipe hadn't been properly adjusted from restaurant/bakery to home kitchen. I filled my standard 12 cupcake pan to the brim and there was quite a bit of left over batter. The ganache recipe here made easily twice as much as needed for 12 cupcakes. I would say the same for the whipped cream but I always eat so much of that when I'm working with it....let's say there more than enough for me and all twelve cupcakes.

Did this happen to anybody else. I hated using 4 ouncces of husband's expensive choc. stash only to have a bowl full of ganache left over. We'll have to find a way to put it to good use. :)

[Luisa]

Allyn, Laya, Diana - thank you!! :)

Kristine - you are totally right, I should have mentioned that in the post. Going to fix that now. I also had batter and filling left over. I think that having a little extra ganache is okay, though, since you have to dip the cupcakes into the topping and if there was only just enough in the bowl for each cupcake, you'd be scraping the bottom of the bowl with the cupcakes and that's not good either.