I made these cupcakes for my friend’s birthday. Very simple, classic recipe, but made with the best ingredients I could find. They were a hit at the party.
Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake
makes 24 cupcakes / 350 degree oven
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Measure out everything but the eggs directly into your mixer bowl.
2. Mix on low speed just until incorporated.
3. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.
4. Add eggs, beat on high speed again for 2 minutes.
Measure out into cupcake pan lined with cupcake papers. A 2″ ice cream scoop works great for this. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan then transfer to a rack to cool completely before frosting.
Chocolate Buttercream
enough to lightly frost 24 cupcakes
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cocoa
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
~1/4 cup milk
1. Beat butter on high for about 30 seconds until soft.
2. Add cocoa and 1 cup of sugar and beat until incorporated
3. Add half of the milk and the remainder of sugar and beat until incorporated.
4. Continue to add milk until you get to the consistency you want.
Assemble
There are many ways to go here, in this case, I simply piped the frosting onto the cupcakes with a large star tip.
Yummy! These look rich and I bet they were delicious.
Comment by Lisa — June 10, 2005 @ 10:15 am
I keep using this recipe and I love love love it. Why would anyone use a cake mix when this recipe is just as easy and lacks weird chemical ingredients.
Comment by Kathy — August 27, 2005 @ 10:06 am
Hi!
I’m from Australia, and was wondering what exactly a stick of butter equates to?
I’d love to try this recipe with the icing!
Comment by Anonymous — October 4, 2005 @ 1:00 am
Oops! 1 stick = 1/2 cup. I hope that helps months late :)
Comment by chockylit — January 20, 2006 @ 3:50 pm
One stick is four ounces. Hope that helps.
Comment by Rachel — February 4, 2006 @ 8:32 am
i just made these for an impromptu valentine’s dinner, and i have to say, i got nothing but compliments. thanks for the great recipe!
Comment by sparky — February 15, 2006 @ 1:02 pm
Thanks! I tried these yesterday - yum!
Comment by Marianne — March 19, 2006 @ 9:18 pm
I really enjoy your site. I think I’m going to try these cupcakes with a lime cream cheese frosting (since I love the combination of dark chocolate & tart citrus).
Comment by Alice — April 6, 2006 @ 8:44 am
I felt satisfied just looking at those happy faces when they eat these cupcakes.
A big thank you frm Singapore! *hugs*
Comment by Suriani — April 8, 2006 @ 7:53 pm
Just made these cupcakes — just the cakes, not the frosting — and while I loved the pillowy texture and shape, they tasted kind of flat. Wondered if a pinch or two of salt would help sharpen the flavor?
Comment by Charlene — April 28, 2006 @ 11:19 pm
My mistake - I put a pinch of salt in everything, but never call it out in the recipe! I should start doing that…
Comment by chockylit — April 29, 2006 @ 11:17 am
Was wondering if you have tried the Devil’s food cake recipe from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook? I tried it today and was quite disappointed. The texture was good but the taste was pretty blah and not very chocolatey.
Comment by Anonymous — April 30, 2006 @ 11:29 pm
Sigh, I have had a disaster with these cupcakes. All sunken. Wah. I was making them for my son’s b’day party tomorrow.
I decided to cut my losses and just bought the 30 cupcake platter at Safeway. They’re only 4 afterall.
Comment by Jennifer — May 12, 2006 @ 9:46 pm
The cupcakes totally rocked my world! I have made them twice in the past 3 weeks. Chocolate good, good, good! Now I’ve got to try the chai spice. The hubby is a choco fan but chai is right up my alley!
Comment by Ani — June 5, 2006 @ 2:53 pm
Very tasty to make. Very yummy to eat!! My first cupcake ever!
Comment by alma vogler — June 10, 2006 @ 10:03 am
I’m just wanted to say thanks for this recipe–I am not by any means a cook/baker, but I made these for a birthday party, and they were loved by all! I changed the frosting a little bit to one I’d already made–with whipping cream instead of milk, and a little bit of vanilla. Deelish!
Comment by Anonymous — June 12, 2006 @ 10:01 am
Just wanted to say thanks for the fabulous recipie! I made these today and they are awesome. Needless to say, there are very few left now. Must go make some more!
Comment by Amanda from NS Canada — July 10, 2006 @ 5:55 pm
hi there! your cupcakes look really pretty, making me want to try this recipe! for the cocoa stated in the frosting recipe, are you referring to unsweetened cocoa powder, the same type used for the cake?
Comment by Anonymous — August 2, 2006 @ 6:38 am
yes, that is exactly it.
Comment by chockylit — August 2, 2006 @ 6:39 pm
Made these today. The cake is nice and the frosting is awesome! It made just the right amount. Thanks!
Comment by Honor — November 9, 2006 @ 9:12 pm
This recipe is wonderful. It makes a super light cake, even when I used whole wheat flour. My only recommendation is to not go convection if you have it. Though I only filled the liners about halfway, when I used convection they overflowed. Once I turned it off they were perfect. Also, I came up w/ about 30 cupcakes (which ain’t a bad thing.)
Comment by Honor — November 16, 2006 @ 8:08 pm
Your Cupcake recipes sound great, but I can not find a source for the small and larger size souffle cups that you use. Most places offer the general store liners which will not do. Would you suggest a source for these liners please.
susanrichcrick@comcast.net
Comment by Susan Richcrick — November 22, 2006 @ 5:55 pm
fantastic result with your recepis thanks for sharing with me.
regards.
Comment by Merpati66 — November 26, 2006 @ 11:53 pm
may i know what type of flour do you use?
Comment by yati — December 5, 2006 @ 5:51 pm
all purpose unless otherwise noted.
i listed my sources for souffle cups in the cupcake questions page (link is on the upper right)
Comment by chockylit — December 5, 2006 @ 5:55 pm
your cupcake recipe looks good. i`ll try to bake them tonight. i have to bake 12 cupcakes for dcake decoration class in order to make cupcakes cake. i`ll let you know if my family liked it.
thank you
gila
Comment by gila — December 6, 2006 @ 9:52 pm
thanks for your recipe i made them yesterday without the frosting they test is “give me more” very easy to make. i made out of them cupcake cake. i just spread icing on top and decorated with menora for hanukka.
thanks again
gila
Comment by gila — December 8, 2006 @ 9:12 am
I try this recipe and it taste very good, however could you advised how much the confectioner sugar (1 cup)in gram? because in live in indonesia and we use grams as a measure here.
I use 110 gram for 1 cup of confectioner sugar and it turn out very sweet (for the frosting)
Comment by lenny — January 4, 2007 @ 7:27 pm
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Comment by free porn diller — January 6, 2007 @ 10:41 pm
Wow!! My family and I really enjoyed these cupcakes this evening. SO easy to make, and we love how they just taste so natural and simple. Forget Betty Crocker, I’m doing cupcakes the RIGHT way from now on– from scratch! Thanks for such a great website. You’ve inspired me to become an accomplished baker… at least for my family anyways!
Comment by txcoopers — January 15, 2007 @ 8:03 pm
I LOVE this website. I mosey this way just to see the wonderful artistic cakelets designed by such a creative person! Thanks for the inspiration Cheryl!
Now, maybe some help…I just made these cupcakes and liked the recipe, but wondered anyone else’s result? Mine were fluffy and moist enough, but seemed to lack in the “chocolate taste” dept. Did I miss a step?
Since I am new at this, I am pretty sure I did something amiss, but wondered other results. thx
Comment by Sam — January 30, 2007 @ 10:42 pm
The first time I made these, I had the same result as some of the people who posted already: they missed the real chocolatey taste. The second (and third, and fourth, and fifth, and…) time I made them, I added more cocoa powder and added in a pinch of salt, some melted chocolate, and chocolate chips. And now? They’re pretty much my favorite cupcake ever. In fact, my birthday is today and there’s a batch of these in the oven right now! Who wants a cake on their birthday when you could have cupcakes that taste this good?
Comment by Iris — February 2, 2007 @ 4:32 pm
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I’ve made two batches in the last two weeks, and they are awesome! and loved by everyone!
Comment by Anna — February 10, 2007 @ 6:18 am
Thanks so much for posting this - I made them last weekend and everyone LOVED them!
Kia ora!
Comment by Anna — February 11, 2007 @ 6:24 am
This is weird
Comment by Alicia — February 16, 2007 @ 3:14 pm
Do you soften the butter before mixing?
Today I brought vanilla cupcakes to my friends and they were a hit but I had a request for chocolate the next time… These look great!
Comment by Diana — April 10, 2007 @ 1:46 pm
My cup cakes fell, what did I do wrong
Comment by David — April 28, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
The best (and easiest) cupcakes I have made to date. I made the cherry filling from the cherry vanilla recipe and just iced with a basic whipped cream. All 24 that I took to the office were gone within an hour! Thanks for the great blog, you inspire me daily.
Comment by Danielle — May 10, 2007 @ 10:18 pm
Thank you so much for your blog! I have a 16-year old stepdaughter and she and I baked these last night. it was her first experience baking anything from scratch and she was completely bowled over by them. She’ll never eat frosting from a can again! I deliberately chose a simple recipe so as to keep within her idea of cupcake-ness and they were a huge hit. Thank you and good luck with the remainder of your pregnancy.
Comment by Nancy — May 24, 2007 @ 11:34 am
Hi! I have my son’s birthday party on Monday and I was thinking of making these cupcakes but using this cupcake pan… http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku7884109/index.cfm?pkey=cbkwbdti
Is it possible to use these with this recipe?
Comment by Amber — June 30, 2007 @ 6:46 pm
Hi!
I made the chocolate buttercream in this recipe tonight and it came out super thick and rich, almost like a ganache (though not as creamy). The last time I made one of your buttercream recipes (the mint buttercream), it was almost the exact same recipe but with 2 sticks of butter, not one (and no half cup of cocoa powder). I’m wondering if the reason this chocolate buttercream came out so much thicker is because there’s only half the amount of butter as well as an additional half cup of dry ingredients? Could I make it lighter and more fluffy (like the mint buttercream) by doubling the butter? Thanks!
Comment by Seema — August 4, 2007 @ 6:23 pm
Hi there, like your site alot. I made these last night. They were great but it was a little softwet inside although the toothpicks came out clean. And I baked them for 20 mins at max on my oven temp. The highest it has is 220. What should I do? Plus they tend to mountain alot. How do I get them to be flat like yours? Or should I say, perfect?
And the frosting, when you say confectioner’s sugar does it mean icing sugar or caster sugar? Cause the frosting came out a little funny, like when you eat it, it seems to have a million small sugar crystals in it when I use icing sugar. And when you said four cups I had to use 1 bag of 500g icing sugar and a little bit more from a new pack of 500g, am I doing it right for the frosting? Do you have a similar recipe in grams instead of cups and stuff?
Thanks in advance!
Comment by Mel — August 27, 2007 @ 11:59 pm
Hi there!
I made these cupcakes last night, and have a few questions.
But first, I need to tell you, they are delicious. Moist and tasty. But, I’m not clear, should the butter be at room temperature or melted? Also, they sank a little in the middle and sort of overflowed a tiny but, which made them stick to the pan. Am I doing somthing wrong? I’m looking for a chocolate cupcake with a ‘dome’ shape.
Thanks for a wonderful blog site!! One of my favorites.
Comment by Kathy — October 2, 2007 @ 9:19 am
Umm, my only comment is “ahhhhhh!!!!”
They turned out disasterous. I noticed that you used baking SODA instead of your usual baking POWDER. Was it a mistake in typing? Mine blew up, then fell flat- were a total mess, and I tossed them in the trash!
Comment by Jennifer — November 14, 2007 @ 10:11 pm
I have made this recipe very many times since I was 13 with rarely an issue. And yes baking soda… Not sure what happened to you. Sometimes baking simply doesn’t pan out. Still happens to me sometimes… Sorry!
Comment by chockylit — November 14, 2007 @ 10:26 pm
its okay - I ended up making another recipe of yours…turned out fantastic. your website is truly an inspiration - so much so that I’m opening my own cupcake bakery in SF in the next year. Come by for some!
Comment by Jennifer — November 16, 2007 @ 10:08 am
Hi Cheryl,
Do you use natural or Dutch cocoa powder? I’m looking forward to trying your recipe out!
Comment by Wennie — November 24, 2007 @ 10:10 am
natural
Comment by chockylit — November 24, 2007 @ 11:45 am
Hiya Cheryl,
I was wondering whether mixing by hand would be ok as well, since I don’t have a mixer. [Old one got spoilt] And does it give a different texture as compared to using a mixer?
xoxo
Sarah
ps: Love the site!
Comment by Sarah — December 16, 2007 @ 3:05 am
i made them and they were awesome!
i accidentally modified the recipe a bit but they were delish
Comment by angelique — December 16, 2007 @ 5:37 am
Hi Cheryl,
I tried baking your cupcakes a few times. They taste really great but some how they always shrink after i take it out of the oven. Can u advice?
Comment by Hazy — December 16, 2007 @ 8:02 am
Hey there, the recipe is pretty good - very moist! Tried it out twice - both times the cupcakes sank slightly in the middle! but I guess that was ok - disguised it with frosting. I was wondering if the method had anything to do with it?
Used fresh ingredients, and I didn’t open the oven door until after 20 minutes, and was watching it carefully after 10 minutes when it began to sink in the middle. Also some of the cupcakes are very crumbly, sadly had to stuff my face with those *g*
Comment by Haseena — December 19, 2007 @ 5:01 am
I tried this recipe tonight and loved the cupcake part. Not used to homemade buttercream, but wow you are talented!!
Here are pics of my final creations and my review….I’m new to food blogging and this was a fun recipe to try!
http://mymustardsandwich.blogspot.com/2008/01/devils-food-cupcake-with-chocolate.html
Comment by Cortni — January 28, 2008 @ 12:39 am
I’m from australia, can you tell me if the flour is plain flour or self-raising?
Comment by bronwyn dunstan — February 13, 2008 @ 12:51 am
cheryl-your recipes are awesome. i’ve never made cupcakes before, and i started with these. i made them for a party at work and everyone loved them! you are so generous for sharing your recipes. i can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. you have definitely inspired me to try different things with baking! thank you
Comment by nita — April 25, 2008 @ 10:10 am
Hi! Just to let you know, i’ve been using your recipe and everyone lovess them!
Comment by elianna — May 4, 2008 @ 11:53 pm