Not posted for awhile as I have been a busy bee doing extra work in the evenings. I have ploughed through marking 300 odd papers and now I don't know what to do with myself in the evenings!
Anyway, I made these for the work peeps recently. We all need a pick me up every now and then during the working day and sometimes a cup of coffee just isn't enough. Those are the moments when you need chocolate! So why not have both?! Mocha Cupcakes are the answer to this conundrum! As it happens a cup of coffee is never enough for me as I don't like to drink hot drinks- give me a cupcake any day over a hot drink.
I started by making chocolate cupcakes. Some people make chocolate cupcakes with actual chocolate, by melting it and the incorporating it into the mixture; others use cocoa powder. I have tried both and I prefer using cocoa powder to make cupcakes. I use the vanilla cupcake recipe from the book 'Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery' by Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas but I add 40g of cocoa powder and a teaspoon of baking powder.
Ingredients:
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
- Line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.
- Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat it slightly to soften it.
- Add the sugar to the bowl and cream the butter and sugar together. I use an electric hand whisk to mix these together until they are light and fluffy.
- In a small bowl lightly whisk the eggs then gradually add the egg mixture to the creamed butter and sugar, mixing after each addition.
- In a separate bowl sift the flours, baking powder and cocoa powder together.
- Measure out the milk into a jug and add the vanilla extract to it.
- Add a third of the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder mixture to the butter, sugar and egg mixture and mix well. I continue using my electric hand whisk for this.
- Add a third of the milk and vanilla extract mixture and mix well. Again I use my electric hand whisk but I cover the bowl with a tea towel to stop the mixture from spraying up my kitchen walls. My boyfriend is not a fan of chocolate cupcake mix on our white kitchen walls...
- I repeat the last two steps until all of the ingredients are combined.
- Then I put the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling until they are about a third full. There are different ways to do this; traditionally the mixture is spooned in but nowadays some people using pipings bags to control this better. I have my own method; I use a jug. I pour my mixture into a jug using a spatula to ensure every little bit is poured into the jug. Then I pour out the mixture into the cupcake cases.
- Then I Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
- When done I leave the cupcakes to cool for half an hour before decorating. If you decorate too soon your buttercream will melt! To test if a cupcake is done use a skewer. Insert the skewer into the middle of a cupcake and then remove it. If it comes out clean the cupcakes are done.
Now for the coffee bit of these cupcakes. Coffee buttercream! You can make this while the cupcakes cool. It is a recipe that is also taken from 'Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery' by Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas.
Ingredients:
150g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 tablespoon of semi skimmed milk (at room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (EXTRACT NOT ESSENCE)
1 teaspoon of coffee dissolved in a small amount of water
350g of icing sugar
Method:
- Dissolve the coffee in a small amount of water. It dissolves quicker if the water is hot but let it cool before combining it with the other ingredients if you do use hot water.
- Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat it slightly to soften it.
- Add the milk and sift half of the icing sugar into the butter and beat until well combined. You can use a large spoon, a fork or an electric hand whisk for this. If your posh you may have a food mixer to do all this for you, luck you! I don't have the space to store a mixer :( So I am a fan of using a fork to start it off then using the electric hand whisk to ensure the buttercream ends up light and fluffy.
- Add the dissolved coffee mixture and mix well.
- Sift in the other half of the icing sugar and mix.
- And of course once the buttercream is light and fluffy you must partake in the essential taste test! Nom nom! Try not to eat it all.
Now it's time to decorate!
You can pipe the buttercream onto your cupcakes or you can smooth it on with a spoon or pallete knife- which ever you prefer.
Finally, I smash a bar of 70% dark chocolate into shards and use the shards to top the cupcakes with. Voila!
Enjoy!
xoxo
