Mocha Cupcakes with Coffee or Vanilla Buttercream

We made these a week ago for my sister-in-law's birthday. They were yummy. I especially liked the buttercream, the texture was nice. You really have to beat the butter for awhile before you add the sugar and vanilla, but it makes a huge difference!

We adapted the recipe for these cupcakes from Brown Eyed Baker. The Vanilla Buttercream is also from Brown Eyed Baker. Both buttercreams are actually the same recipe, only one has coffee added to it.

I used the same cupcake recipe in June for my daughter's 2nd birthday and baked it in ice cream cones. Just one thing about making cupcake cones, is that you should do it as close to the time you're going to serve them as possible. I made them the night before and the cones were no longer crispy the next day. Bake them, cool them, frost them and serve them right away.

We doubled the original recipe for Aida's cupcakes, and divided the batter among 32 cupcake liners because she wanted to be able to make a '25' out of them. I'm sure she won't mind that I swiped a few pictures from her Facebook for my blog. I'll include the recipe for 12 cupcakes. Multiply it if you need to.

Vanilla frosting cupcakes.

These are the ones with the coffee frosting.

Mocha Cupcakes with Coffee or Vanilla Buttercream
Makes 12 servings

For the Cupcakes

• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Vanilla Buttercream

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Coffee Buttercream

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 12 muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In another bowl, beat the butter with both sugars for about 3 minutes or until fluffy. Beat in the egg until combined.
4. Measure 1/2 a cup of strong coffee in a measuring cup. Add milk to the measuring cup until it comes up to the 1 cup mark. Stir in the vanilla.
5. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture and milk to the butter/sugar mixture, alternating starting and ending with flour.
6. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake for about 15 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely before frosting.
7. Or, fill a bunch of  mini (or regular size) flat bottom ice cream cones almost up to the top with batter. I placed the cones in a mini muffin tin first. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. The Points Plus value will change if you choose to make cupcake cones. Be sure to do the calculation if you decide to go this route.
8. To make the frosting; beat the butter on medium high speed for 5 minutes. It takes some time but it will become fluffier and light in colour. Scrape the bowl a few times.
9. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar on low speed. Once combined, add the vanilla and beat on high for another 2 minutes until fluffy. Scrape the bowl a few more times during this process. The texture will be really nice and you should be able to pipe it no problem. I just used a bag with the end cut off, but you could use any tip you want. Decorate them however you like. We added a little chocolate covered coffee bean to make them look nice.
10. To make the coffee buttercream, just dissolve the coffee in the vanilla first, then proceed to make the butter cream as directed above.

Tips:

• A nice tip from Brown Eyed Baker is that you can store the buttercream in the fridge in an airtight container, then, when you're ready to use it, you just let it come up to room temperature and beat it a little before using it.