Devils Food Cake Cupcakes with Esspresso Buttercream

Cake
 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
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
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
3 large eggs, at a room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

NOTES: Before trying this recipe, I would suggest right off the bat making a cake rather than cupcakes. I've made this recipe as a cake before and it came out wonderfully. In this recipe I tried to make cupcakes with this devil's food cake recipe and they shrunk in the oven, pulling away from the cupcake wrappers. They still tasted great, but they weren't as visually appealing as I would have like them to be, for this reason I would suggest making a cake!

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower positions; heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 8 inch pans (or 2 nine inch pans) and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Combine the chocolate and cocoa in a medium bowl; pour the boiling water over and whisk until smooth.

Mixing Cocoa Powder and boiling water.

 Sift together the flours, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and 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 sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer at medium-high speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition. Reduce the speed to medium; add 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 one 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 over beat. Remove the bowl from the mixer; scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and stir gently to thoroughly combine.
3. Divide the batter among  the cake pans and smooth batter with a rubber spatula.

Batter Scooped into Cupcake tins. 

 Place 2 pans on the lower-middle rack and 1 on the upper-middle rack. Bake the cakes until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 23 minutes. Run a knife around each pan perimeter to loosen. Invert each cake onto a large plate; peel off parchment paper and re-invert onto a rack. Cool completely.
4. Assemble and frost the cake. Cut the cake into slices and serve!

Espresso Buttercream Frosting:

4 Large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 table spoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool, each stick cut into quarters
3 table spoons of espresso (can be instant espresso dissolved in hot water)

1. Combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer; place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisking gently but constantly, heat the mixture until it is thin and foamy and registers 160 degrees on an instant read, or candy thermometer.
2. Beat the egg mixture at medium high speed until light, airy, and cooled to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, one piece at a time. (After adding half the butter, the buttercream may look curdled; it will smooth out with additional butter.) Once all the butter is added, increase the speed to high and beat 1 minute until light, fluffy, and thoroughly combined. Add espresso, and mix until combined. (The buttercream can be covered and refrigerated up to 5 days.)
(Recipes adapted from baking illustrated)

NOTES:
The frosting is delicious! I think it is one of my favorite frosting recipes I have made! The consistency is a little more liquidy than I would have liked, so I might suggest reducing the amount of espresso. However, the consistency wasn't really a problem for me, especially since the flavor of the espresso was so delicious!