Martha's Devils Food Cupcakes with Sour Cream Frosting

For my moms birthday I decided to make cupcakes instead of a cake and put them in my cupcake tower. I had recently bought Martha Stewart's Cupcake book and decided I'd give it a try. I chose to make the devils food cupcakes with the sour cream frosting because they looked so good and who can pass up chocolate? They were more work to make since they were made from scratch and had more steps than a typical cake recipe but it was worth it because they were yummy! The cake was moist with a perfect texture and the frosting was unique and not as rich as it looks. The frosting has sour cream and cream cheese in it and I thought I had to give this a try. The end result was a smooth creamy frosting that complimented the cake without overpowering it. Thanks for the recipe Martha.

Recipe:
Devils Food Cupcakes
3/4 c cocoa powder
3/4 c hot water
3 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 1/2 c unsalted butter
2 1/4 c sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 c sour cream, room temperature


1. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, soda, baking powder, and salt. 
2. Melt butter with sugar in saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and stir into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on low speed beat until mixture has cooled, 4 to 5 min. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Add flour mixture in two batches alternating with sour cream and beating until combined.
3. Fill paper lined muffin tins 3/4 full with batter. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 min or until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. Rotate tins half way through. Let cool completely before frosting. Use frosting provided below, or your favorite chocolate frosting recipe.


Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
1 lb (4 c) powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 c unsalted butter, room temperature
18 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted & cooled
1 1/2 c sour cream
(I used semi-sweet Bakers chocolate and only 10 oz of it and just used a little more cocoa and it turned out good and wasn't too dark)


Sift together powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt. With an electric mixer on med-high speed beat cream cheese and butter until pale and fluffy. On low speed add sugar mixture and mix until fully combined. Mix in melted and cooled chocolate and then sour cream. Beat until smooth. Use immediately or frosting can be stored in fridge for five days or frozen a month. Before using bring to room temp. and beat until smooth.