Devil Dog Cupcakes

I’m not ashamed to admit that my favorite childhood treat was (and still is) Devil Dogs.  So when I heard that Hostess (which also owns Drake’s) was filing Chapter 11 – I panicked.  I needed to find a replacement just in case they were really going to be gone forever.  The result is even better than the original, mainly because it’s not so dry you need a drink of water after each bite.  I recommend this recipe for any Devil Dog fan.   

INGREDIENTS

CUPCAKES

• 1/2 cup good semi sweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips)
• 1 1/2 cups hot, freshly brewed coffee (the cake will NOT taste like coffee, I promise)
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (I also used Ghirardelli)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups well-shaked buttermilk (I didn’t have this on hand, so I made it using milk and white vinegar – proportions for making it are 1 tbsp vinegar to 1 cup milk, let sit for 5 minutes)
• 3/4 tsp vanilla

HOW TO MAKE IT

CUPCAKES

• Place the chocolate chips in a bowl and combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth
• Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
• In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer)
• Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well
• Add flour and sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.
• Divide batter into cupcake pans using an ice cream scooper (to keep the cupcakes uniform in size) and bake at 350°F in the middle rack of the oven for approximately 30 minutes or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean

FROSTING

• In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens
  • You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix
  • Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature
  • It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step
• Stir in vanilla
• While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
• Next, add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat it on high
  • If it looks separated, don’t fret, just keep beating it
• Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream