The Devil Went up to Spokane

Howdy! Ben came down to Eugene last weekend to visit so naturally we made lots and lots of cupcakes so he could bring them back to school. He loved the banana cupcakes I made a couple weeks ago so we made a batch of those. We also tried a new recipe too! I love the idea of chocolate and fruit. The sweetness of the chocolate and the tangy-ness of the fruit makes for such a nice ZING of flavor. That being said, we decided to make a simple devil's food cake with a raspberry buttercream. They were delightful! Marissa said this was definitely the best frosting of all time. This is the girl who looks at me with puppy dog eyes while I'm making buttercream, anxiously waiting for me to hand her the frosting smothered beater for her to lick. She is quite the frosting connoisseur, so I'm am extremely flattered. The cake recipe came from Spicy Ice Cream.

Ben cooking up some devil's food cupcakes

Ben's buddies at school eating them!

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

9 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 t salt

1 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1 stick butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

Generous splash of vanilla

1/2 cup strongly brewed black tea

1/2 cup milk

Cream together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Blend in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add half of the dry ingredient blend and the tea to the butter mixture and beat. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and the milk and mix until smooth. Fill lined cupcake tin with the batter and bake for about 22 minutes at 350. As always, cool completely before icing.

RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM:

1 1/2 sticks butter

3 cup powdered sugar

2 Generous splashes of vanilla

1/2 cup frozen raspberries (thawed) (this is sort of by taste. If you want SUPER raspberry-y frosting, use more. Not-so raspberry-y frosting, tone it down a bit)

Cream the butter until fluffy and add the powdered sugar in batches. Blend until creamy. Add the vanilla. Using a hand blender (or a regular blender would work too) blend the raspberries until soupy. Add the raspberry soup to the butter cream and blend for 5 minutes until thick and creamy and totally combined. Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes. 

These cupcakes had a lovely consistency and I will definitely make them again. I think next time, I want to add some sort of glaze or drizzle-y chocolate raspberry sort of something or other. A nice filling or swirl of something gooey would definitely add a little more spunk to them.

Stay fabulous.

xoxo,

KG