Devil's Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

I've made these devil's food cupcakes several times and they always get great reviews.  They are a great go-to cupcake when you want a rich chocolate cupcake.  They bake up nice and pretty with domed tops and the sour cream adds a bit of extra tang.  If you were curious as to what makes these different from most chocolate cakes, devil's food cake is generally made with melted butter instead of oil, according to Martha Stewart at least.  In my opinion, devil's food cake is also light and airy while many chocolate cakes are more dense. 

These cupcakes are great with a number of different frostings, this past weekend, I made them with raspberry buttercream (the recipe can be found here although I subbed milk for the lemon juice this time), cream cheese frosting and the one pictured here, a chocolate sour cream frosting. 

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup water

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp coarse salt

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 T plus 1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin pans with cupcake liners - this recipe yields approximately 30 cupcakes.  Heat water in the microwave about 90 seconds, stir in cocoa powder, whisking until smooth and set aside to cool.  In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Melt butter and combine in mixing bowl with sugar.  Beat on medium low speed until mixture is cooled, about five minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add vanilla and cooled chocolate mixture and mix well.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, alternate with 1/2 of the sour cream and repeat, beating after each addition until just combined. 

Fill each cupcake liner approximately 3/4 of the way full and bake about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in a center cupcake comes out clean.  Let cool in pans about 5-10 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. 

Frosting:
1 lb powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 oz melted semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup sour cream

Sift together sugar, cocoa powder and salt.  Beat cream cheese and butter on medium high speed in a mixing bowl for 2-3 minutes until smooth and fluffy.  Gradually add in sugar mixture, beating on low speed until combined.  Add melted chocolate and sour cream and mix until combined.  Increase speed to medium high and whip until light and fluffy.  Transfer to a piping bag and frost cupcakes as desired.