Devil's Food Cake with Secret Creamcheese Filling

I take my home baker status quite seriously and so when it was my birthday on the first of this month, I was quite sure that while I would not mind a nice dinner outside, I would definitely love to bake my own cake, however simple it may be. 

On my recent trip to Bali, I brought back a wonderful book called "Bake Happy" by Judith Fertig. The book is a lovely collection of easy and interesting recipes and what better way to start than a special family day. Everyone loved the cake and it was my fastest moving cake till date. Got over in just one day!! Baking the cake was a bit tricky as I thought that the cake was baked but it wasn't actually which I knew only once I flipped the cake upside down. I immediately put it back in the oven with the top gently covered with an aluminium foil and my cake was perfectly done!! 

Ingredients 

Secret Creamcheese Filling 

1 package (8 oz/226gms) creamcheese at room temperature 

1 large egg beaten

1/2 tsp fine salt

1/4 cup brown sugar (original recipe called for 1/3 cup sugar but 1/4 was just perfect for me)

Devil's Food Cake

3 cups all purpose flour (I used cake flour)

1 1/2 cup brown sugar (again reduced the sugar from 2 cups to 1 1/2 cup as given in the original recipe and it was perfect)

1 tsp fine salt 

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 cups hot water

2 tsp apple cider vinegar (I used balsamic vinegar as I did not have at home)

2 tsp Vanila extract 

2/3 cup vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil)

Direction 

Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius. Now you can either prepare a muffin tray or a 10" cake pan for baking the cake. If baked as cupcakes, it will take lesser time and is more hassle free. I did both ways and find the cupcakes were easier to bake. It will take you two batches to bake the cupcakes in a 12 hole muffin tray. 

For the secret cream filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, salt, and sugar. Set the filling aside while you prepare the batter. 

For the Devil's Food Cake, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. In a separate bowl, mix together the baking soda and hot water, then stir in the vinegar and oil. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients little at a time and whisk with a balloon whisk or a spatula until the batter is smooth and evenly colored. 

Fill each cupcake liner (if using muffin pans) half full with batter. Spoon a large tablespoon of the filling on top of the batter in each cupcake liner. Cover the filling again with more batter. Repeat the process for all the prepared liners. If using a cake pan, grease it well and line it with parchment paper and grease again. Now pour half the batter, top it with the cream filling and cover it up with more batter. 

Bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes or the cake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Please note, that the toothpick might have traces of the cream filling sticking to it. Look out for a clean chocolate crumb to ensure that the cake is cooked through. If the top seems to be getting too browned, cover it loosely with an aluminium foil. 

Remove the cake/cupcakes from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. 

P.S.: You can skip the cream filling part and enjoy the eggless chocolatey cake as is. It tastes absolutely delicious!!