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If you love cupcakes, you’ve come to the right place because I am all about cupcakes right now. They’re adorable, portable and delicious, so what’s not to love, right?
Are you a coffee lover too? I sure hope so, because today’s recipe is full of coffee flavor and the perfect cure for that midday slump. I’m a café mocha enthusiast, so I wanted to try to encompass the intense flavor of one of my favorite Starbucks beverages into cupcake form.
I started with a rich, coffee infused chocolate cake and topped that off with a velvety, sweet espresso infused buttercream. As though they weren’t decadent enough, I had to finish them off with a chocolate drizzle and a chocolate covered coffee bean. Take these into the office or your next meeting and you’ll have a happy staff that are guaranteed to be alert!
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Café Mocha Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso granules
For the frosting
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
pinch of fine grain sea salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water
3-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Directions:
For the Cupcakes
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
3. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Add the 1 ½ teaspoons of espresso granules to the cup of hot coffee and stir to combine. With mixer still on low, add in the coffee/espresso mixture and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
4. Using a large scoop (about 3 tablespoons), distribute the batter into the prepared muffin tins.
5. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then remove them onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
For the frosting
1. In a large bowl, sift together the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar/cocoa powder mixture, and continue creaming until well blended.
3. Add salt, vanilla, 2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk and espresso/water. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
For the garnish
Place 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Heat the chips on 50% power in 30 seconds increments until chocolate is melted. Drizzle over cupcakes and finish with a chocolate covered coffee bean.
Notes:
- You can easily adjust the consistency of this recipe by simply adding in more heavy cream or milk.
- Cake adapted from Ina Garten
Follow Jamie on Instagram. We love to see what you're baking from MBA! Be sure to tag @jamiemba and use the hashtag #mbarecipes!
what is the quantity of water and coffee in 1 cup of brewed coffee ? and i have instant coffee powder so will that be fine ?
Cheshta-
Instant coffee will work just fine, you can add a couple of tablespoons of coffee to about 6 to 8 oz of water. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
I Love Your Recipes But I’m Getting Awfully Tired Of Having To Sift Through The Adds To Get To Them..
I’m sorry that you don’t enjoy the ads but they are a part of what makes this site possible.
-Jamie
How am I just now seeing these??? Can’t wait to try them! (And they were posted on my birthday a few years ago…cool!)
I made them into mini cupakes ~they came lovely
What is 2 pound equvilent to in CUPS?? They look awesome but I need to make the frosting still
Manon-
Per Google, it’s about 8 cups. I hope this helps. Thanks for stopping by!
-Jamie
Has anyone tried this recipe in a 9×13 pan or a bundt pan?
These are phenomenal!!! I thought it might just be a lot of hype because they look and sound soooo good, but they taste even better!!! They are absolutely heavenly! I only wish something that tastes this good would be healthy too! :)
Mrs. Frey,
I’m thrilled that you love the cupcakes! Thank you so much for reporting back to let us know! Have a fantastic day!
Jamie
I’ve been a fan for ages but I finally tried this recipe for my S I L’s birthday. Absolutely delicious and they were still moist with an even more intense flavor 3 days later (I had stashed away a couple for later). I too was concerned about the runny batter but they baked up beautifully.
That’s great to hear! Thank you so much for coming back to let us know about your experience with the cupcake recipe. Have a great day and thank you for following MBA!
Jamie
They we’re DELICIOUS.
I switched the oil for 3/4 cup of finely grated sweet potatoes (reduced a bit my guilty…lol), they were really amazing.
The icing was delicious too but maybe a bit too sweet, do you have any idea what i can do to put less sugar in the icing?
Thx again for the delicious recipe ! we’ll try some more in our next “cupcake frenzy” night
Isabelle-
I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe – thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback! As far as the icing goes, simply leave out a bit of the sugar and taste as you go. Have a great day.
-Jamie
Amazing photos (pro.) Amazing food and bakes
love all your posts (that I have seen so far)
keep up the awesomeness