Mocha espresso cupcakes
1 Jul
Mocha espresso cupcakes
Yield: 21
Cupcake Ingredients
2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2Â tsp salt
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup freshly brewed espresso
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
Frosting Ingredients
1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
5 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 double shot freshly brewed espresso
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks toward the center. Pull 2 double shots of espresso, equaling 3/4 cup; set aside to cool slightly Combine flour, cocoa baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until fluffy. Add sugars and beat for an additional 5 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk —one at a time— beating until well combined.

 Measure out the milk and vanilla and add to the espresso. On low speed, add flour/cocoa mixture and espresso/milk mixture alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3′s full and bake cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes.
For the frosting, pull 1 double shot of frosting and set aside to cool slightly. Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup of sugar gradually, beating until combined. Add the vanilla and 3 tbsp of the espresso. Add remaining confectioner’s sugar in 1 cup increments to taste, as well as the espresso. Whip for several additional minutes after everything is combined to make the frosting especially light.
(Cupcake recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)
These aren’t new cupcakes for me … I originally made them back in November for Ray’s birthday, and then again for my birthday in January. But I love them and their rich espresso flavor, so I knew I had to share them. Plus I needed a recipe I could trust and pull together easily. However, after this week it’s back to the creativity grindstone!
Perfection! A classic cupcake with a sublime frosting that had the expresso kick. The cake was as good as any chocolate cake I’ve had: moist, flavorful and a little crumbly. These are a winner.
Yep – definitely picked this cupcake up fifteen minutes ago and… it’s already gone (I told you, Melissa!). Another win, as Ethan said. The cake part of this cupcake was AWESOME. The chocolate flavor sang and, though I usually prefer a denser cake, the texture was lovely. I didn’t get much of the coffee flavor in the cake part, but it doesn’t matter because that was definitely present in the frosting. And coffee flavor + choclate flavor = mocha flavor so, I wasn’t really expecting an overly-coffee’d dessert anyway. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Cupcake Fridays?
Something I find really interesting is that when we tasted the frosting last night, it didn’t taste very espressoey, but this morning, the coffee flavors really stand out and strike a great balance with the cocoa! I’d still like it if the coffee popped some more, but flavor wise, this cupcake really doesn’t leave much room for improvement.
The cake is very fluffy and delicate. Too much so, actually. Too much leavening, maybe? Fix that, though, and this cake is a perfect 10 down to five sig-figs!
-Hub-hubs
I noticed that the frosting began to pop more last night after I chilled it a bit while waiting for the cupcakes to bake and cool. And I agree about the crumb…could be a bit more sturdy.
Don’t eat all the extras! I have to bring a pretty one to Marian Call’s show tonight!
These were pretty great.
LOVED: The frosting! Very nice balance between the Espresso taste and the rest of the frosting. Wonderful!
LOVED: The cake! Moist and wonderful!
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM: None! Loved this shit like I love exploring dungeons in search of treasure!
I was permitted a few weeks ago to leave this type of response, so today I shall do exactly that…this cupcake was “yum yum in my tum tum”. The End.
Holy Sh#t that’s a good cupcake!
Cake was delicious. I prefer a slightly less crumbly texture. Only because I like to make sure I get to eat every morsel and not have to watch bits sadly tumble to my cube floor. But there was something nice about the light texture of the frosting and the light texture of the cake. Honestly, I don’t know how you had enough frosting to decorate the cakes. I would have eaten half the recipe standing in my kitchen.
Coffee flavor wasn’t super strong. Perhaps that could be punched up in the cake batter.
Whelp, that’s pretty close to the best cupcake ever. It’s all a delicious blur. The flavors were right there for me, just enough chocolate, just enough coffee. It was like biting into a mocha cloud.
I’m so glad I went all-in and bought 3 this week. This is without a doubt your best effort to date.
The crumb, while quite delicate, was moist and flavorful. I’m still savoring the overall coffee taste/aromas after nearly 5 minutes, but it wasn’t an overpowering experience. If I had been told the cupcake had been made by Philly’s famous cupcakery, I wouldn’t have been surprised in the least.
In short: this is the way forward. My only complaint is that the crumb and frosting both seemed slightly too delicate, but only very slightly.