Last night my wonderful friend Meredith had a bunch of us girls over to her place to watch the Bachelor Final Rose episode.
It was surely a girls night. Just picture 8 girls eating, drinking wine, and watching the Bachelor.
It was awesome!
We all brought a little something to eat and I though it would be the perfect time to finally try out a delicious looking Mocha cupcake recipe.
Feast your eyes on...
Mocha Cupcakes
Should yield about 12 cupcakes (a little more actually)
Recipe adapted from Brown-Eyed Baker
1-1/3 all-purpose flower
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1-1/2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature (I used a cold one...woops!)
Directions
1. Mix espresso powder into the brewed coffee until dissolved and set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard-sized muffin tin with liners.
3. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Beat butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined. In a measuring cup combine milk, coffee/espresso powder mixture, and vanilla.
5. Slowly add the flour mixture and alternate adding between the coffee and flour mixture.
6. Divide the batter evenly (like I said above there might be more than 12 cupcakes). Bake for 17-20 minutes or until the babies pass the toothpick test.
7. Cool completely before frosting.
The delicious looking product!
Espresso Buttercream Frosting
Makes enough for 12 cupcakes
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 teaspoons espresso powder
Directions
1. Mix the espresso powder into the vanilla and set aside.
2. In electric mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stop once to scrape bowl.
3. Reduce speed to low and add the powdered sugar a little at a time. Wait until it is mostly incorporated before adding more.
4. Once completely increase speed to medium-high and let whip until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
5. Add espresso and vanilla mixture and continue to mix on medium-high until it is completely incorporated.
6. Fill pastry bag with frosting and pipe over cooled cupcakes.
I show you this only because I love the way whipped butter looks.
The frosting should look like this.
After frosting I added a little something thanks to some extra espresso powder and Trader Joe's. :)
Such a savage!
Espresso and chocolate is always a winning combination in my book!
And the ladies loved them!
