Little Ivy

Oh my, how good are chocolate and coffee together… particularly in cake!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was my sister-in-law’s birthday on Saturday so I mined her pinterest boards looking for something I could make her for lunch on Sunday. Once I saw the espresso cupcakes I couldn’t look any further, I just had to make them. The recipe she had posted had kahlua icing which I didn’t think was so appropriate for small children, so I googled away (recipe books… who needs them!) and finally found a Martha Stewart recipe that looked pretty good.

I have made cupcakes once before but they were a bit dry. These on the otherhand were nice and moist and the very buttery icing was indulgent but yummy. I only ended up using half the quantity of icing in the recipe so I have adapted it below. They were rich enough with that amount and certainly didn’t need any more.

I made these on Saturday and we ate half in front of the footy grand final, with the other half eaten at lunch on Sunday. The recipe ended up making 24 cupcakes and I think I could have put a little less batter in each cupcake pan and made more.

The cupcakes were a hit so I think I will make them again. My niece also enjoyed helping me to ice them! It was my first time using a piping bag for the icing – so much fun. It will definitely get another run as well. Be warned – I made a huge mess in my kitchen making these. I am sure if you are a good baker you will be much cleaner than me but there was stuff (including sugar as I dropped half a cup…) everywhere by the time I finished!

Tick – another thing off my domestic kitchen goddess list!

What you need…

Cupcakes

• 2.25 cups plain flour
• 1.5 cups cocoa powder (a good quality one)
• 2.5 cups caster sugar
• 1.25 teaspoon baking powder
• 2.5 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1.25 cups buttermilk
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed coffee
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee

Icing

• 5 tablespoons butter (at room temperature – eek a lot of butter!)
• 1.5 tablespoons brewed coffee
• 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 cups icing sugar

The how to…

1) Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

2) Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and powder and salt. You need a large bowl for this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) Dissolve the instant coffee in the brewed coffee and set aside.

4) Using electric beaters (or a mixing stand), mix together the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla on a low speed until ingredients are well combined.

5) Add the coffee and mix for another minute. Continue beating and add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time. Mix until it is well combined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6) Line a muffin tray with patty pans and fill each about 2/3 of the way up (I did more than this and I think it was too much batter in each).

7) Put in oven for about 20 – 25 minutes or until you can insert a skewer and it comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8) Whip the butter in a food processor (or mixing stand with paddle) until it is soft and fluffy. Add the cocoa powder and whip until combined, then add the coffee and whip again. Finally add the sifted icing sugar a bit at a time until you get a consistency you are happy with.

9) Put it in a clean bowl and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10) Once the cupcakes are cool, you can ice them. Choose your pattern for your icing – I made little “worms”.

11) Sit back and enjoy with good company and a freshly brewed coffee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adapted from: Martha Stewart

Linking with:

Pin It