This Devil’s Food Cake from Zoë Bakes Cakes is the best chocolate cake recipe I have ever tried and believe me, over the past 20+ years, I’ve tried them all. It is perfect for devil’s food cupcakes with cream cheese icing.
Want a Devil’s Food Cake fit for a celebration? Try my layer cake with Champange Buttercream!
My Secret Devil’s Food Cake Ingredients
- Lyle’s Golden Syrup
- Rum
- Coffee
The dark chocolate cake has a texture that is smooth and rich. The flavor is not overly sweet, because of the intensity of the coffee (you don’t actually taste the coffee, it just cuts the sweet). The rum makes it a great match for cream cheese frosting sweetened with Lyle’s Golden Syrup.
If you haven’t tried Lyle’s you are in for a huge treat and a new addiction. I first had it when a friend from South Africa gave it to me on a peanut butter sandwich. It is a decidedly British snack and like nothing you’ve ever had before. It’s a syrup made of sugar cane that looks and feels like honey, but the taste is not nearly as cloying. It can be found in some grocery stores and even on Amazon, gotta’ love the internet!
How to Pipe Icing
For those of you who want to learn to decorate your devil’s food cupcakes with a little more flair, here is a post on piping icing roses.
pottery by Kevin Caufield
Ingredients
Devil’s Food Cupcakes
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 2 1/3 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (50g) Cocoa Powder (I like the flavor and color of Dutch-processed cocoa but Natural cocoa produces a more even crumb)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/8 cups (300ml) hot coffee
- 1/4 cup rum
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Icing
- 1 1/2 pounds (680g) package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (I am really brand loyal, having tried lots!), softened
- 1 1/2 cups (330g) unsalted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract optional
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 5 cups (600g) confectioner's sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup use honey if you are in a pinch
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare 1 dozen large muffin tins with Paper Baking Cups (or two 9-inch rounds).
- Combine all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and whisk until combined, set aside.
- Whisk together, eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla until well combined. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk, while slowly adding the coffee and rum to the batter and whisk until totally blended and smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be quite runny.
- Fill a measuring cup or pitcher with the batter and then fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full.
- Bake the devil's food cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes (about 25-30 for 9-inch rounds) or until a tester comes out clean.
- Allow to cool on a cake rack and then frost with cream cheese icing (recipe follows).
- Cream Cheese Icing: Combine all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and cream together until smooth. I used a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip to decorate these devil’s food cupcakes. You may want to double the icing recipe just in case you find yourself dipping into the bowl with a spoon!
Hi Sarah,
Two things come to mind from your description.
1. Are you using a convection oven?
2. If not, do you have an oven thermometer?
Let me know and we can take it from there!
Thanks, Zoë
Hi Marry,
I’m so sorry I never got back to you about the weight of the flour. It is about 4 3/4 ounce per cup.
Thanks, Zoë
These were a hit. But I’m having an issue with the outside setting before the center is done rising, resulting in uneven rise, lop-sided cakes. Solution? Less batter in each cup? Temperature change?
What weight per cup do you use for the ap flour?
Thanks very much.
Zoe, thanks so much for this devil’s food cake recipe. It is the most moist recipe!ve. Could you please recommend a yellow cake recipe that would be as moist and can stay fresh for at least a couple of days? Thanks in advance for
your suggestion.
Thanks, Zoe.
Maybe I’ll try this is as is to begin with and see if I can taste the coffe.My life with chocolate (cake) would be easier if my taste buds weren’t quite so sensitive to coffee!!
I think that your comment about chocolate cakes tasting a bit flat without a bit oif coffe is exactly the reason that I haven’t found a recipe that I LOVE yet~
Maybe I could try half of the amount of hot coffee and the rest of the liquid as hot water. that might give me a bit more flavor without a specific coffee flavor.
Hopefully I’ll have a chance totry it this weekend.
Thanks again for your advice~
Hi Bonnie,
I do add the coffee just to get that complexity of flavor. Otherwise I find some chocolate cakes too sweet and flat tasting. You can eliminate the coffee and just add more hot water in its place. Even add a couple more tablespoons of rum (keeping the amount of liquid the same as I have it now).
The other hint is to use a really great brand of cocoa. Something really rich and dark, like valrhona would add to the flavor.
Enjoy! Zoë
Hi, Zoe,
I am just browsing your site and found this recipe.
I’m always looking for a great chocolate cake/cupcake recipe and this looks great, but I really dislike coffee- any recipe I have tried with coffee or espresso powder just tastes like coffee to me.
I know that it is just supposed to deepen the chocolate flovor, but I can almost always taste the coffee.
A friend told me that I was imagining it when I baked the items because I know that it’s in there, but I can almost always pick it out when I have a dessert at a restaurant or at a friends’s house or other places where desserts are served.
Should I just give up trying recipes that include coffee or espresso powder or is there another secret to enhancing the chocolate flavor?
Thank for any info you can give me!
Hi Desiree,
For this recipe the real difference between the cake made with oil vs butter is the texture. This cake stays very moist and soft even when it is refrigerated. You can fill it with a cream or mousse and serve it cold and not have the cake get too hard and dense.
I find that it stores longer without getting stale as well.
Hope that helps! Thanks, Zoë
These look so great! Question- what is the real difference between baking with oil vs. butter?
As I’ve said before this is my favorite cupcake recipe. I just wanted to share that the last time I made them the only coffee I had in the house was Traverse City Cherry Coffee. Afterall, I am in Michigan. 🙂
It was wonderful. Just a hint of cherry flavor!
Zoe, a few more questions on the cake pan conversion. When you mentioned a sheet pan, I assumed you were talking about a half-sheet pan like when one orders a cake from a bakery. So how long to bake for a 13×9 cake pan? And do I want to butter/grease and flour the pan like in other cake recipes?
Hi M,
I take that as a great compliment! In culinary school they always told us we were not allowed to mock Betty or Hines until we were making as much $$$ as they do! LOL!!!
Glad you like them! Zoë
Zoe, I discovered your recipe on a random search. I’ve just made the first doze and they are fabulous (I’ve only got one dozen cupcake pan). Although they did overflow a lot when I filled 3/4 of the way so I’m trying half instead. But the mix is so light and fluffy and the coffee really boosts the chocolate flavour. Hopefully you won’t be offended but these are exactly like the betty crocker ones I’ve been making for years (which is always light, fluffy and very chocolately and my favourite since childhood) but I’ve wanted a home recipe to use instead of boxed also because I live in the UK now and it’s not always easy to get. Thank you so much for this great recipe it’s now a family classic.
Hi Raquel,
Yes, in all of the recipes I use all-purpose unless I specify otherwise.
So glad you loved them! 🙂
Zoë
Hi, loved, loved, loved. When you say flour, you mean all purpose right?
Hi Judy,
Thanks for stopping by. These are great cupcakes and can easily be made without the booze. Just substitute your favorite brewed coffee or espresso in equal parts.
Enjoy! Zoë
Hi Zoe,
Love your site and recipes. Quick question. In lieu of rum or brandy, you noted to use equal parts of coffee (i.e., 1/4 cup rum or brandy— if you opt out of the booze then use equal parts coffee)
Questions: What type of coffee would this be? And would this be in addition to the 1 and 1/4 cup of hot coffee in your recipe? Thanks a lot.
Just made these tasty cakes this past weekend. A huge hit! Wonderfully moist and not too sweet.
Hi Beth,
Yes, I’ve baked this cake in just about every form. Bake at 350°. I’ve baked it in a sheet pan which takes about 20 minutes to bake. In an 8″ x 2″ cake pan which takes about 35-45 minutes.
The rule of thumb is that you want to fill the pan about 2/3 of the way full and bake it until it is set. It should resist when you gently touch it with your finger. When poked with a skewer it will come out with dry crumbs, not wet.
I have baked it with convection heat, but it will change the times depending on your oven. You will also want to reduce the heat by about 20 degrees.
Let me know if this makes sense to you.
Thanks! Zoë
Hello Zoe,
Do you ever bake this luscious batter into a layer cake? If so, do you have any suggestions re: temperature (w/ or w/o convection), time, pan size…?
Thank you,
Beth Linsday
Hi Karen,
The best thing about this cake is how moist it is. I think you can get away with baking on Thursday and serving on Saturday. You may want to let them cool, wrap them really well and then freeze them until Friday evening when you frost them.
Have fun and enjoy! Zoë
Hi Zoe – love that bread book – goes right to my hips! My sister in law has made these cupcakes a number of times now, and we adore them! I requested them for my birthday! Now it’s my turn to bake some for a friend’s 65th birthday! The party is Saturday afternoon. I was wondering how far in advance I can do this? Can I bake the cakes Thursday evening and frost them Friday for the Saturday gig, or do I need to step the process up further by a day – Start on Friday? Trying to just manage time, but want these to be as great as usual! Thanks! Karen
Hey Becky,
You will need to buy a lot of it, very addicting!
Enjoy, Zoë
Thanks Sweet and Saucy!
So delicious looking!
sweet recipe! :] i need to get me some Lyle’s.