One of my favorite easy vintage chocolate cake recipes is Hershey’s Black Magic cake. It is moist, flavorful, and chocolatey. Although the recipe contains coffee, it doesn’t have an overwhelming coffee taste. The coffee simply compliments the cocoa in a subtle and lovely way. If I feel like an extra mocha kick, I like to make this one with mocha buttercream frosting.
After a bust of a birthday (my husband was recovering from surgery) I decided to make myself a belated birthday treat: Black Magic Cupcakes. A whole cake is a bit much for a family of two, so cupcakes better fit our style. You can eat a couple and freeze the leftovers. This time I made the recipe with the Better Homes and Gardens (1989) chocolate butter frosting (a basic cocoa buttercream), AND lots of sprinkles.
- For the Cake:
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup Cocoa
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup strong black coffee
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ———————————————————–
- For the Frosting:
- 1/3 cup butter
- 4 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 + cup milk
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Using a mixer, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Pour into cupcake tins with liners. The batter is very thin so it’s easiest to transfer into a spouted measuring cup.
- Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool before frosting.
- For the frosting, let butter come to room temperature, and beat with a mixer until fluffy.
- Add the cocoa to the butter and mix.
- Slowly add 2 cups of the sifted powdered sugar, and slowly beat in 1/4 cup milk and vanilla.
- Beat in the rest of the powdered sugar. Add additional milk if needed to make it the consistency needed.
- Spread or pipe onto the cooled cupcakes.
Hershey’s doesn’t specify what type of vegetable oil to use. Try using a heart-healthy extra virgin olive oil. Some bakers state that olive oil helps to give the chocolate a richer flavor. Although I haven’t tested an olive oil and other vegetable oil cupcake side by side, I do think these cupcakes have quite a depth to their flavor considering they are made with cocoa powder.
Serve them with sprinkle ice cream cups.
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