I often bake with my daughters, and when they get to choose, it’s ALWAYS chocolate cake, which is one of the reasons there are so many chocolate cake recipes on our site.  This one is super delicious, it’s got rich dark chocolate flavor and I decided to make it in a cupcake instead of a cake so we could freeze what we didn’t eat the day we made it and have fresh cake anyday.  I did find, as I do with many cakes from scratch, that they dry out a little on day two, so it’s best to make it for a crowd or freeze your leftovers.  I am a pretty loyal devotee to traditional buttercream frosting, but I decided to try whipped ganache, and I must say, it’s poppin off some serious chocolate flavor, fun for a change and for sure a very rich chocolatey experience.  I doubled the frosting because you use a lot more for cupcakes, but other than that, I stayed pretty close to the recipe.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

Cake:

2 cups cake flour
2/3 cup natural cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup water
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Frosting:
14 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chopped
1 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
chocolate sprinkles

1. Prepare 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners, lightly spray the bottoms.  Preheat oven to 350.
2. For the cake – Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Add the sugar and beat for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla.  Reduce speed to low and add the cocoa mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture in 3 batches, beating until well blended.  Transfer the batter to cupcake liners filling only 3/4 the way.  If you choose to make a cake this works great in two 9 inch round pans or one 9×13.  Just be sure to check for doneness and not bake times, bake time below is for cupcakes.
3. Bake for 19-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes until turning out to cool completely on a cooling rack.
4. To make the frosting, slowly melt the chocolate with the cream in a heatproof medium bowl and whisk until smooth.  Add the butter and whisk until smooth.  Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate, covered, for 15 minutes.
5. Beat the frosting with an electric mixer on medium high speed for about 8 minutes until thick enough to spread.
6. Either frost cupcakes with a knife or put frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large tip and twirl pretty frosting mountains on top of your cooled cupcakes.  Add chocolate sprinkles for an extra pretty touch!

Recipe adapted from Luscious Chocolate Desserts cookbook  Devils Food Cake.