a little boozy devil's food cake

Since I learned the basics of baking cakes last year, I have declared myself the official cake baker for any family occasion at home. And being at the stage of trying different cake recipes off the net and tweaking them a little to suit my family's tastes (or my budget), I was able to make some good ones.

Now when I found this recipe, it became a totally different story. I baked this the first time at my on Mother's day this year.  Everyone loved it so much I baked it again for Father's day and my sister's birthday. Even my boss (and friend) who is also a baker and not such a fan of chocolate flavored baked goods liked it. Now that's saying something.

The father's day version (as inspired by Lorraine Pascal's "i can't believe you made this cake" design. i surrounded the cake with chocolate pretzel sticks and topped it with a bunch of grapes.

The second time i baked this (Father's Day), there was some rum sitting in the fridge and I was then fascinated by boozed-up baked goods then so I said why not? Thus this spiked devil's food cake version was born.

Spiked Devil's food cake
Ingredients  (makes 1 two-layered 6-inch cake/12 cupcakes)

CAKE:
1/2 cup best-quality cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 cup boiling water
1 stick (1/2 cup) soft unsalted butter, plus some for greasing
3/4 cup sugar
11/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum (or more if you like it boozier)
2 eggs
chocolate butter cream frosting or any other frosting of your liking

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottoms of both cake pans with parchment paper and butter the sides.

Put the cocoa and 1/2 cup dark brown sugar into a bowl with a bit of space to spare, and pour in the boiling water. Whisk to combine, then set aside.

Stir the flour, baking powder and baking soda together in another bowl.

Cream the butter and superfine sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy.  Dribble in the vanilla extract and rum into the creamed butter and sugar.  Add in the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

Slowly add the dry ingredients then finally mix and fold in the cocoa mixture, scraping its bowl out well with a spatula. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and put in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Take the pans out and put them on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes, before turning the cakes out to cool.

If you are making this batter for cupcakes, line a 12-slot muffin pan with cupcake liner and pour the batter into each cup. I usually do 3 tbsp per cupcake then bake in a pre-heated 350 degrees F oven for about 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.

Note: The cake layers can be baked 1 day ahead and assembled before serving: wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in airtight container. Iced cake will keep for 2 to 3
days in airtight container in a cool place.

Freeze Note: Un-iced cake layers can be frozen on day of baking, each wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminium foil, for up to 3 months. Thaw for
3 to 4 hours on wire rack at room temperature.

Note: I adapted this recipe somewhere but unfortunately wasn't able to recall the blog's link anymore. I hope the owner forgives me.