Manageability – Intermediate for a cupcake.
As we plow through the month of October at warp speed, we continue to provide you with some Halloween-themed treats to show off at your own Dios de los Muertos, haunted house, costume party spooktacular. Today, we present the Devilish Devil’s Food Cupcakes from Ambrosia Baking. And while typically cupcakes are nice and easy, these little devils threw up a few hiccups I have to mention.
The instructions call for Wilton red gel food coloring to dye the frosting. I used Wilton red gel food coloring to dye the frosting, and let me tell you, I did NOT end up with devil-red frosting. It looked more pink/salmon, and if memory serves correct the Prince of Darkness didn’t dress like Andy Bernard. I added some brown to make it less pastel, but in the end I rolled them in red sanding sugar to give it beautiful lake of fire red look. Because of the food coloring fail, my frosting had a really rough food-coloring flavor. Blech.
Also, I don’t use fondant often, but apparently it will start to melt over time. Your horns won’t last more than a few days, so eat up them up quickly, just like the Unholy One will one day eat the souls of those lost and eternally damned in the seventh level of Hades on the day of Baphomet’s glorious return. Enjoy!
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 cup boiling water
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda (not like Coke, or Pepsi)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar, packed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
For the frosting:
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons whole milk
- One bad attitude
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract (to taste)
- red food coloring (I TRIED TO use Wilton gel colors)
- fondant, tinted black (for decoration)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and position a rack in the middle of the oven. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.
- In a bowl, whisk together the boiling water and cocoa powder until smooth. Whisk in the milk and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a standard electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Feel free to yell “Worldstar!” while recording the beating on your phone.
- Begin to add in the flour mixture and the cocoa mixture to the creamed butter, alternating between the dry and wet ingredients, and making sure to begin and end with the flour mixture. The batter may look slightly curdled, but don’t worry, this is what you want, you idiot! Mix together only until just combined.
- Divide the cake batter evenly among the cupcake tins.
- Bake the cupcakes in the oven until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.
- Set the cupcake tins on wire racks, and allow the cupcakes to cool in the tins for about five minutes, before removing them and allowing them to cool completely on the racks.
- While the cupcakes cool, it’s frosting time. In the bowl of a standard electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the confectioner’s sugar and butter until the mixture begins to come together.
- Lower the mixer speed, and add in the milk and vanilla extract. Increase the mixer speed to high, and beat the frosting until it is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add enough food coloring to turn the frosting a bright shade of red (yeah right).
- Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, frost the cupcakes with a large round tip (I used an Ateco 807 plain tip).
- Take the black fondant, and begin to shape small bits of it into curved devil horns, and then place the horns on top of the cupcakes.
- Thank the dark lord for this day, and praise his unholy name with a cupcake!