Indulge yourself with this recipe for Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting. It’s a heavenly moist and fudgy chocolate cake topped beautifully with dark chocolate, cream cheese frosting.
These are some of the most decadent cupcakes (or cakes) I’ve ever made and are one of the most popular posts here on Erren’s Kitchen.
I originally posted this recipe in January of 2017, but did not include step by step photos.
Also, with time, readers have let me know what didn’t work for them so I’ve included tips at the bottom of the post that will help you make the perfect cupcake.
These cupcakes are light, moist, and oh so irresistible! I know I do a lot of chocolate cake recipes, but this is definitely one of my new favorite chocolate cupcake recipes!
Here’s how to make them:
In a mixing bowl whisk together cocoa powder, instant coffee, brown sugar.
Add water, mix until smooth and set aside.
Next, In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and baking soda together and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract and the eggs followed by the chocolate and flour mixtures.
Divide evenly into a cupcake pan and bake 20-25 minutes.
Prepare the icing by melting the butter and chocolate in a small pan on over a low heat stirring gently until melted.
Once completely melted, remove from the heat and let cool.
Once cooled, in a large bowl, beat the chocolate mixture with softened cream cheese.
Add cocoa, vanilla extract and 1 cup of the powdered sugar adding another cup of the sugar until smooth and desired consistency.
To make the rose shaped frosting is super easy too! I used a large Wilton 2D Tip (pictured below). which you can get here, on Amazon.com.
I just swirled them from the middle out. Nothing really fancy. If you want to practice, you can just scrape it off and do it again until you get it the way you want.
I think the best part of these cupcakes is the deep chocolate taste with just the right amount of sweetness.
I make a lot of my frosting recipes with cream cheese instead of buttercream, because it’s so much easier to create without overdoing the amount of sugar.
These decadent cupcakes are perfectly chocolaty with a soft and moist crumb and that dark chocolate, cream cheese frosting – well try not to eat it by the spoonful before you top the cupcakes!
Tips for the perfect cupcake:
- Be careful not to over beat the batter. To ensure proper mixing, beat cake batter on low until ingredients have just combined. Over mixing the batter will result in a cupcake that’s denser, with a tighter grain (almost bread like).
- Always bake with ingredients that are at room temperature. When you use eggs or milk straight out of the refrigerator, they won’t combine as well with the dry ingredients that are at room temperature. Poorly combined ingredients can also cause a cake to be too dense rather than fluffy and light.
- For a uniform size batch: For standard sized cupcakes, the best way to ensure even batter distribution is to use a large ice cream scoop
. This will fill the liners about 2/3 of the way giving the best results.
Recipe Notes:
- To avoid icing that’s too sweet, use semisweet chocolate that is around 70% cocoa.
Update Notes: This post was originally published in Jan of 2017, but was republished with an updated recipe, new photos, step by step instructions and baking tips in April of 2018.
★ Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
Devil's Food Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting
Indulge yourself with this recipe for Devil's Food Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting. It's a heavenly moist and fudgy chocolate cake topped beautifully with dark chocolate, cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 stick softened butter plus some for greasing
- ¾ cup sugar superfine or granulated
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs at room temperature
for the frosting:
- ¾ cup butter softened
- 8 oz cream cheese softned
- 6 oz bitter-sweet chocolate chips 70% cocoa
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon dark cocoa powder sifted
- 3 cups powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180 C.
In a mixing bowl whisk together the coco powder, instant coffee, brown sugar and hot water. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract.
Add eggs, one at a time with a cup of the flour mixture in between eggs.
Mix in the rest of the dried ingredients for the cake and fold in the cocoa mixture.
Divide the batter evenly into 12 cupcakes and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting
For the frosting
Melt the butter and chocolate in a small pan on over a low heat stirring gently until melted. Once completely melted, remove from the heat and let cool.
In a large bowl, beat the chocolate mixture with the softened cream cheese.
Add the cocoa, vanilla extract and 1 cup of the powdered sugar adding another cup of the sugar until smooth and desired consistency.
Pipe onto cooled cupcakes
Garlic + Zest says
These are the most indulgent cupcakes I’ve seen in a long time! Wow!
Erren says
Thank you, Lisa!
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
These are beautiful! I LOVE chocolate and all of that frosting! Yes please!
Erren says
Thanks so much Emily!
Molly Kumar says
These cupcakes looks so pretty and those rosettes look perfect. We love both devil’s food cake and dark chocolate, so this would be such a treat to make.
Jovita @ Yummy Addiction says
These cupcakes look out-of-this-world good! I can see myself stuffing a few of these into my face with a big cup of coffee. Yum!
Julie says
Looks absolutely delicious. Beautiful shot too.
Erren says
Thank you, Julie! 🙂
The Little Epicurean says
Chocolate on chocolate! This recipe will def come in handy for Valentine’s Day!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Oooh, that looks so rich and decadent – I want two of them right now!
Cathy | Lemon Tree Dwelling says
These could not look more divine! LOVE the double chocolate!
fearlessdining says
I love that fudgey looking chocolate frosting!
Shannon Graham says
Dark chocolate is my favorite by far when it comes to dessert. It’s healthier for you too! These are the perfect dessert!
Melanie | Melanie Makes says
These look absolutely heavenly – I bet they disappear instantly!
Erren says
Hi Melanie, thank you and they were gone in a day! ?
eat good 4 life says
These look magnificent. I haven’t done cupcakes in for ever. I shall soon!
Sachiko Doreste says
Can I substitute regular sugar for superfine sugar?
Erren says
Yes, that would work fine.
Carlitha says
Hi I want to make an 1\2 sheet cake with this recipe instead of cupcakes is that possible?
Katherine says
Hi! These look fab, but I was wondering how well the frosting holds up? It looks pretty sturdy, and I know cream cheese frostings can hold up fine but I’ve never tried it with melting the butter and chocolate. Thanks!
Carolyn says
Only made the frosting but it was enough for an 8″ layer cake plus about 1 cup left over.
Very good frosting. I added about 1/3 tsp of salt, however. I find the taste of icing sugar too cloying without it.
Erren says
Thanks for the feedback. Glad to hear you liked the frosting! 😀
Melissa Bruno says
These look AMAZING! I don’t have instant coffee on hand. Do you think I could substitute regular brewed coffee in place of the water and instant granules?
Erren says
Absolutely!
adel says
can i do this in a layered cake? What size should the tins be?
Erren says
Yes, 8 inch will work fine.
Ivonne says
Hi, I’m not from USA, I’m from Chile and I want to make the receipt. 1 stick of softener butter, how much is in gr? And about the coffee how to add it? I mean I just have instant coffee….to the cup of hot water I add 1 tablespoon or teaspoon of the coffee I have?
Thank you for your help
Erren says
Hi, Ivonne.1stick is 113g and add the instant coffee to the hot water and it’s a teaspoon.
Allison says
I’m using this to make a 9in cake. I assume this recipe for 12 cupcakes is equivalent to one layer?
Erren says
Yes, that’s right Allison. I do have a Devil’s Food layer cake recipe though. https://www.errenskitchen.com/devils-food-cake/
Matilda says
Hi..
What happens if I use dark brown sugar instead of light?
Erren says
Hi Matilda, it would be less sweet if you used dark brown sugar. If you used it, I would increase the white sugar by a quarter cup.
Deborah Cole says
instead of using powdered sugar, can I add whipped cream instead, don’t really like the sweeteness with the sugar.
Thuri says
These are pretty much the best chocolate cupcakes I have ever tasted. Wow. Thank you so much for sharing the recepie with us. Perfect combination of flavors and texture
Erren says
Wow Thuri, what a great comment! I’m so glad you liked it so much! 😀
Presley says
Love this recipe, and I can’t wait to make it! Would a peanut butter filling work on the inside of these cupcakes? If so, what would go into that? Let me know! Thanks!
Nancy says
Question. (Dark chocolate frosting)
I noticed the frosting in the bowl was not as dark as the frosting on the cup cakes. I have tried many times to get it that dark. Mine comes out light brown every time. How do I get that dark chocolate looking frosting?