Devil's Food Cake

There is something to be said about a simple chocolate cake. No frills, no fuss, no mountains of too sweet buttercream to spoil the treat—just chocolate and cake.

Growing up, I didn't like chocolate. I didn't like the way it looked, the way it smelled, or the way it tasted. I avoided brownies, chocolate ice cream, and chocolate cake like the plague. I'd snub my nose at candy bars. On my birthday, I would insist on eating strawberry shortcake—chocolate wasn't going to grace my special day. I was too cool for it and I wanted everyone to know it. Chocolate was the enemy.

On occasion, I would gobble down as many chocolate chip cookies as possible. I loved chocolate chip cookies. I was probably too naive to understand the brown spots were chocolate. Or, better yet, I knew they were chocolate but I had a tough girl I-don't-eat-no-chocolate image to uphold. I don't remember much from this stage in my life (perhaps I am blocking it from memory because I cannot fathom a life without chocolate), but this is what my mother tells me. And we must believe our mothers.

You can see my opinion on chocolate has certainly changed. Over 1/3 of the recipes on this website prominently feature chocolate as one of the main ingredients. I can't help myself. Chocolate is my vice; it corrupts me. I can't handle this level of decadence on my own, so I'm bringing you down with me.

I hope you don't mind.

This devil's food cake is the quintessential chocolate cake. It is dense and rich with chocolate. It is thick and sticks to the roof of your mouth. It is satisfying in the only way chocolate cake knows how. The frosting is a dark chocolate frosting. Made with brown sugar and unsweetened chocolate, it's dark, rich, and intense. This frosting isn't playing around. Combined with the devil's food cake, this is a lethal (and delicious) combination. You need this chocolate cake.

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Coconut Cream Cupcakes

Lately, I've been having a streak of recipe failures. Normally, I'm okay with a failed recipe or two (and even then once every blue moon). After I stop whining and complaining (kicking, screaming, crying), I find there's usually something to learn. Maybe I didn't have the right ratio of flour to fats. Maybe I substituted an ingredient I really shouldn't have. There are dozens of things that could have gone wrong and it's my job as the baker/detective to sort it out. I'm okay with solving baking crimes (well, it is a crime to see good food go to waste!). What I'm not okay with is a failed recipe where there was nothing to learn and I have no idea what went wrong.

That just makes me mad.

In the past week, I've had four recipes go sour. Four. I didn't share my lemon mousse with the texture verging on cottage cheese. I chose not to show you my coffee poached pears with the nightmare coffee caramel sauce. I even tried steaming some vegetables with a little vinegar and only ended up with a home that reeked of Little House on the Prairie. It's been a bad week for my kitchen. It's been a blow to my culinary confidence. I'm almost nervous to try something new for fear it will end up in the trash (again).

But these coconut cream cupcakes? These broke that awful streak (thank goodness). I honestly can't think of a change I'd do to make these better. These are just perfect.

These coconut cream cupcakes are reminiscent of a coconut cream pie. The cupcake is a traditional vanilla cupcake absolutely infused with coconut, including coconut milk and flaked coconut mixed throughout. If that isn't good enough, these cupcakes are then filled with a toasted coconut cream. Toasted coconut. They are finally topped with a vanilla whipped cream and a sprinkling of toasted coconut. These are addictive and so delicious. If you love coconut, you need to make these.

I should have called them Coconut Dream Cupcakes.

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Yeasted Chocolate Coffee Cake

As a baker, I like to pride myself on keeping my cupboards well stocked so when inspiration strikes I can make whatever strikes my fancy without making a trip to the grocery store. My pantry is filled with the basics—flour, sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar... What can I say? I like sugar. The hall closet doubles as another pantry to keep the extra bags of baking necessities. You'd be surprised how much I go through every week.

Or appalled. Possibly concerned for my arteries.

Yet, no matter how I try, it seems that I'm always missing some ingredient. Always. I try to be prepared; why can't that be good enough?

Today there wasn't milk in the house. Luckily, I had powdered milk on hand from this Mexican Hot Cocoa Mix to save this coffee cake. However, I very often find that I don't quite have what I need. Perhaps I don't have enough butter or cream to finish out a recipe. This is when my desserts suddenly become low-fat.

Sometimes low-fat is on purpose, like when I drag out the whole wheat and chop the sugar in half, like for these banana cinnamon muffins.

Usually, though, its because I was too lazy to take a trip to the grocery store.

This yeasted chocolate coffee cake is decadent and rich. The cake manages to be both dense and flaky at the same time. Each flavor is separated and distinct, yet they complement each other in such a way that you'll find yourself taking bite after bite. This cake is good. Enjoy it with a cup of coffee for the perfect afternoon snack (or breakfast if you feel like a bit of a rebel).

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