Devil's Food Cake or Cupcakes

NOTE: for cupcakes, cook around 12-15 minutes.

Regular or natural cocoa like Hershey's can be used, but you'll get best results with Dutch-processed cocoa.

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plain cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened but still cool
• 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teasoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower- middle positions; heat the oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, grease three 8-inch cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper or waxed paper. Combine the chocolate and cocoa in a medium bowl; pour the boiling water over and whisk until smooth. Sift together the flours, baking soda, and salt onto a large sheet of parchment or waxed paper; set aside.

2. Beat the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer at medium-high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat at high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer at medium-high speed, add the eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition. Reduce the speed to medium; add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined, about 10 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl. With the mixer at low

speed, add about a third of the flour mixture, followed by about half of the chocolate mixture. Repeat, ending with the flour mixture; beat until just combined, about 15 seconds. Do not overheat. Remove the bowl from the mixer; scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and stir gently to thoroughly combine.

3. Divide the batter evenly among the cake pans and smooth the batter to the edge of each pan with a rubber spatula. Place 2 pans on the lower-middle rack and 1 on the upper-middle rack. Bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 23 minutes. Cool the cakes on wire racks 15 to 20 minutes. Run a knife around each pan perimeter to loosen. Invert each cake onto a large plate; peel off the parchment and reinvert onto a rack. Cool completely.

4. Assemble and frost the cake according to the illustrations on page 853. Cut the cake into slices and serve.