Tuesday, February 17, 2009

TWD - Devil's Food White-Out (cup)Cake




The Tuesdays with Dorie bakers are making the Cover Cake!

We've been lusting after this cake for months, with its billowy white frosting and dusting of devil's food crumbs. Fortunately for us, Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater selected it for this week's recipe.

The timing of this created somewhat of a dilemma for me. My boss, whom I adore, has a birthday Weds. I wanted to make it for her birthday but that wouldn't enable me to post on time. I missed the floating islands so I was determined to make this cake. Suddenly, it hit me...

Cupcakes. Devil's food white-out cupcakes. No layer splitting. No trying to sneak a cake into work and having people think I was wrecking their diets. No leftovers. Perfect.

I made a half recipe of both the cake and the frosting. I used mini chocolate chips and 2% milk (at 6 PM Sunday, Safeway had either a quart of whole milk or a half gallon of buttermilk, and I only needed 1/4 cup for half a recipe) so I went for the pint of 2% milk. The cake batter was easy peasy (and yummy, too). The cupcakes baked for about 20 minutes until they tested done. I made the frosting in the morning before going to work. The P&Q had me prepared to hover over the thermometer and be ready for it to shoot up to 242 degrees after taking forever to get to 235. This indeed happened, but I had no trouble at all incorporating the sugar syrup into the beaten egg whites. I whipped it like crazy for about 3 minutes until it cooled to room temperature. It was glossy, puffy and magical looking. It tasted...OK. I crumbled one of the muffins for the crumb topping and applied a liberal dollop of frosting on the remaining 11 cupcakes. The crumb topping meant no need to make the frosting look good, but I made it kind of snow capped mountain-esque in honor of all of the snow the Sierra has gotten in the last three days.

In the interest of being able to tell all of you how they were, I ate one, like, immediately. So it was only 7:15 AM, so what? I was willing to sacrifice so you would know the outcome. You're welcome.

The verdict? These are insanely good cupcakes. You know how chocolate cupcakes can sometimes be dry? How the frosting can be too sweet, and maybe they're decorated beautifully, but the frosting flavor disappoints? Not these babies. They are so much fun to eat with the billowy meringue frosting and deep chocolate flavor. You turn them every which way to take a bite, and still have a small cloud of frosting left at the end. Not too sweet, not too firm. Just right.

I will definitely make these again. Amy Ruth suggested using peanut butter in the filling. I saw another TWDer suggested making the frosting with some coffee. Both sound amazing. I wouldn't use the mini chips again (I don't really like the flavor), so I would chop a good quality semi-sweet chocolate in their place.

You must try this! If you're a chocolate lover or have one in your life, this is the cake for you. Thanks for picking it for us, Stephanie! If you'd like the recipe, you'll find it at Stephanie's blog. Or buy yourself the book Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. It's an amazing book with so many irresistible recipes that there are approximately 400 of us cooking our way through it and blogging about our experiences.

Please stop by next week when we make the Caramel Crunch Bars. They promise to be easy and delicious!

34 comments:

Marthe said...

The cupcakes look sooooo cute!!
Great job!

Jules Someone said...

Those look just adorable. You can bring them to my house any time. I'm home.

Side note for you -- I saw the comment you made about peanut butter/maple syrup sandwiches. One of my absolute favorite ice cream toppings is made with equal parts chunky peanut butter, maple syrup, and chocolate syrup. Just put them in a measuring cup and microwave. Stir a time or two until it's warm and the pb is melted. MMmmmmm. Oh, and this is the only time I used faux maple syrup. The stronger taste is welcome here.

Amanda said...

They look wonderful! We loved the cake as well :)

Teanna DiMicco said...

EVERYTHING IS BETTER AS A CUPCAKE! I love them! How adorable! I'd eat 5 of those at 7:15 am!

Sabrina said...

They look great! I love the cupcake idea.
I used peanut butter frosting and it was delicious!

AmyRuth said...

Leslie, I would like to order cupcakes!!! I loved reading your post. Your excitement is contagious and I can't wait to make this recipe into cupcakes too! Where is the picture of you with the icing on your nose? he he
I totally agree with all the unpretentious fun. Way to Go! The Breakfast of Champions! Oh, and thank you for the mention. You're the best!
AmyRuth

Unknown said...

Yay, I knew someone would make cupcakes! If I make this cake again, it would definitely be in a cupcake form. They look great. How long did you bake them for?
Sara/Imafoodblog

threesidesofcrazy said...

I love it as cupcakes - how cute and so easy with no splitting. Hope they all enjoy them.

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

Peanut butter filling does sound delicious! I love your cupcakes! So cute!

Cathy said...

Love that you made cupcakes out of these. They look perfect. I think this is the best way to get the cover cake fix without going overboard (in the absence of a big cake-eating event). I've got PB filling on the brain now -- maybe next time!

Unknown said...

I had a feeling this recipe would make incredible cupcakes...thanks for being the guinea pig! They look wonderful.

Megan said...

What a great idea - making cupcakes! I agree, though, the cake had great flavor -

natalia said...

I just loved this cake and I think the cupcakes are really beautiful !!!!

The Unrepentant Carbivore said...

Leslie, your amazing 7:15 am sacrifice for us has me moved almost to tears. Thank you. THANK you. ;-)

(oh, and your cupcakes are tres cute, too.)

LyB said...

Perfect looking cupcakes! I am so jealous you got to eat a cupcake so early in the morning, I only had a cup of coffee! :)

April said...

Your cupcakes look so, so good! I love cakes but cupcakes are so much more portable, and easier to eat more than one.

Flourchild said...

I LOVE your cupcakes...I would have made them if I didn't have the bday cake to make! Im so glad you liked them too.

NKP said...

I love that you did cupcakes! Thank you for eating one in the wee hours, someone had to!

Melissa said...

What a great idea to make cupcakes! They look delicious!

Anonymous said...

Your cupcakes look fantastic. I can't wait for next week's caramel crunch bars!

Unknown said...

Love it! I wish I had done something like this. I feel so guilty having a whole cake this decadent in my fridge. I was thinking of having the neighbors over just for dessert! Wonderful idea and just perfect.

Erin said...

I love that you made cupcakes! These look so good!

Jacque said...

Good call on the cupcakes!

And chocolate cupcakes for breakfast are a perfect choice, if you ask me :)

Anonymous said...

Your cupcakes look great! Cupcakes are definitely a better way to bring cake to work.

Peggy said...

Love the cupcakes idea! You are so creative. And that's an easy way to share with your work buddies. Great idea.

Anonymous said...

I was so tempted to make cupcakes this week. Your cupcakes look delicious. YUM!

margot said...

Adorable! I'm sure your co-workers loved them.

Andrea at Nummy Kitchen said...

You cupcakes with mountains of beautiful frosting look amazing! Cupcakes for breakfast are a wonderful idea ;)

TeaLady said...

The cup cakes look fantastic. Who says bigger is better.....

Heather B said...

Love the cupcakes! Great job! They look so good!

The Food Librarian said...

These looks soooo yummy! Love the cupcakes...I must try that next.

Lillian said...

I love your little cupcakes! I considered cupcakes, but then I chickened out because it would have been more work to frost them all individually!

Nancy/n.o.e said...

This cake is so good, it will become a standard for me too. Now I know it's great for cupcakes, so I'm set! They're so pretty; I hope they were a huge hit with the cw's. Way to earn brownie (or devil's foodie) points with the boss!!
Nancy

Liliana said...

Great idea to make cupcakes! They look wonderful. Your co-workers must have been thrilled!