I’ve written about these bad boys before but never got a good picture; so here they are again and let me tell you – this was my third time making them and they never cease to amaze me how delicious they are! The cake is so fluffy and always moist with melt in your mouth coffee brownie goodness. I’m super picky with chocolate cake but this does none other justice. And strangely, I don’t think it would taste as good in actual CAKE form. It’s as if the cupcake liner holds in all the luscious flavors before un-peeling its way into your drooling mouth.

The simple trick to this recipe is to make sure you don’t substitute at all. The only minor modification I made to the cake was reduce the sugar by a couple tablespoons because I knew the icing would be really sweet. But otherwise, I did nothing else so that the cake would remain delicious. And what’s a dessert if it isn’t over-the-top amazing anyway? Just eat them in moderation because you’ll notice how addicting they can be….

(You can also make these in MINI muffin form which are both adorably cute AND “less” calories ;-) )

A quick culinary tip: make sure you leave your butter on the counter for an hour or two before making the icing so that it becomes 100% soft. Microwaving it is never a good idea as it may ruin the texture all together (trust me – I’ve done that before!)

Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting

2014-11-17 18:38:45

Three words: MAKE THESE CUPCAKES. They're melt in your mouth and a perfect combination of coffee & chocolate flavors.

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INGREDIENTS

Cupcakes

1. ½ cup strong brewed coffee, at room temperature
2. ½ cup whole milk
3. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4. ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5. ½ cup granulated sugar
6. ½ cup light brown sugar
7. 1 egg, at room temperature
8. 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
9. ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
10. 1 teaspoon baking powder
11. ½ teaspoon baking soda
12. ¼ teaspoon salt
13. 1½ teaspoons espresso powder

Frosting

1. 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2. 2½ cups powdered sugar
3. 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
4. 1½ teaspoons espresso powder (or ground coffee)

INSTRUCTIONS

Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Fill your muffin tins with liners and lightly spray them with cooking spray.
2. Brew the coffee and set aside to cool.
3. Cream butter by itself until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Gradually add sugars and cream until pale. Add egg and whip once more.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk your dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder/soda, salt and espresso powder.
5. Add milk and vanilla to brewed/cooled coffee.
6. To the butter/sugar mixture, gradually add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients, alternating the two and mixing in between additions (ending with the dry ingredients).
7. Spoon batter evenly into your prepared muffin pans. Bake for 17-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Frosting

1. Cream butter until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, then vanilla extract, then espresso powder.
2. Pipe or spoon frosting onto cupcakes.
3. Store cupcakes in an airtight container on the counter for up to a few days. Refrigerating lengthens storage but may dry out cake a bit.

Notes

1. Yield: one dozen cupcakes and enough icing for extra desserts ;)

By Hope

Adapted from The Brown Eyed Baker

Adapted from The Brown Eyed Baker

Oh My Foodness! https://oh-my-foodness.com/

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