Mocha Cupcakes

And so begins the Valentine's Day desserts. 

I absolutely LOVE Valentine's Day. It's a win-win. I get presents, flowers, chocolates, AND dinner! Sorry to all guys out there, although I am low-maintenance most days of the year, Valentine's Day is definitely not one of them. Luckily, I have a wonderful boyfriend that coooompletely understands ;) These cupcakes are perfect: the icing is fluffy and light and mimics the coffee undertones in the cupcake. Plus, sprinkles make everything more amazing.

Oh, by the way, about a week ago, I applied for a research assistant position offered by the one and only Tucker Max. He's a comedy writer who has written titles such as I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell and Assholes Finish First. He is absolutely HYSTERICAL, and I jumped at this wonderful opportunity to work for him. I made it to the second cut, and I will hear back (or not) by January 30th. I'll be sure to keep y'all updated!

I didn't have espresso powder or a small sieve, so I used a larger sieve and filtered the coffee-infused milk through 5 times before adding to the sugar mixture. As you can see, there were still coffee granules in the batter, but it didn't make a difference in the end product. This recipe makes 12 perfectly sized cupcakes, but if I made it again, I would definitely double it. 

Also, one of my mom's close friends brought me chocolate pasta from the Pike Street Public Market in Seattle, AND the green coffee beans I ordered finally came in. I wanted to roast and grind them for this recipe, but I couldn't figure it out in time. But when I do, be prepared for the how-to! I'm probably going to incorporate the chocolate pasta into other Valentine's Day dish, but I'm still thinking on it. Does anyone have experience with chocolate pasta and want to share? Oh, and I still always find it faster and easier to weigh out my dry ingredients instead of using measuring cups. It probably saves me a good 7-10 minutes.

This batter is very liquidy,so I poured it into a liquid measuring cup to measure it out, but if you have one of those pancake/cupcake batter dispensers (I bought one from Sur La Table for ~$10.00) that would be your best bet because I still got batter everywhere. Be careful not to fill them too much, a little under halfway is the best because they rise a lot. 

I saw on other blogs that people put another paper liner around the cupcakes to make them prettier, but I couldn't figure out how to make it perfectly align with mine. I guess they were different sizes!

This frosting almost has a whipped cream consistency. When you are piping, be aware that if you leave out at room temperature for a while, the frosting will start to slightly spread out, messing up the perfect little ridges. So pipe, then put into the refrigerator! This cupcake would be great filled with some sort of chocolate mousse or a Valentine's Day themed filling.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mocha Cupcakes
adapted from Love & Olive Oil

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or 1/2 tablespoon ground coffee
• 1/3 cup vegetable/canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Frosting:

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons brewed coffee (cooled)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Sprinkles!

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
• In a microwave safe bowl, heat milk until hot (but not boiling). Stir in espresso powder. If you don't have espresso powder, put coffee grounds into a fine sieve. Pour milk over grounds and allow to seep through. You will end up with a few grounds in your milk this way, but it won't affect the final product.
• Whisk sugar, oil, and vanilla extract in to coffee mixture. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to wet ingredients and beat until no lumps remain (or very few remain).
• Pour into liners, filling each with a scant 1/4 cup of batter (to me, this was a little over halfway up the side of the liner). Bake 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
• For frosting, sift together powdered sugar, cocoa. Cream butter and add to sugar mixture slowly. Add salt, and coffee. Beat 2 minutes. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes and add adorable Valentine’s Day sprinkles!