Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays out of the year. Most people associate Valentine's Day with romantic relationships, boyfriends, girlfriends, but I like to associate it with a day to express love to people you love most...not solely restricted to a romantic interest or spouse. For that reason, I wanted to do something special for not only my boyfriend, but for a few loved ones, so I made some delicious Valentine's cupcakes!
I tried something new and added some coffee to my cakemix to create a mocha cupcake. I also took a crack at making chocolate buttercream frosting from scratch and it turned out great. Recipe follows...
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| It is imperative to sift all the dry ingredients to insure there are no lumps in the mix. |
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| Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of instant espresso granules to 1 cup of brewed coffee to get a mocha flavor. |
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The finished cupcakes decorated with candy heart and chocolate chip X's and O's.
I bought some pretty pastry packaging from Michael's and gave a box each to my boyfriend, my best friend, Natalie, and my mom. |
MOCHA CUPCAKES
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups of flour
- 2 cups of sugar
- 3/4 cups of cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons of baking soda
- 1 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
- 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup of freshly brewed coffee
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of instant espresso granules
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and mix until combined with a spoon, a hand mixer, or electric mixer.
- In another bowl, mix buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- With a mixer on low speed, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
- Add the 1 1/2 teaspoons of espresso granules to a cup of hot coffee and stir to combine. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee mixture to the batter and stir to combine.
- Distribute the batter into prepared cupcake tins.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes until cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes then remove from the tin and let cool completely on a cooling rack.
*Note that the batter will be a bit runny, but this is perfectly fine.
CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
Ingredients:
- 1/2 a pound of bittersweet chocolate
- 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate
- 2-3 egg whites, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 3/4 pound of unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder dissolved in 1/2 teaspoon of water
Directions:
- Chop the chocolates and place in a heat proof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
- Place the bowl of egg whites over the pan of simmering water and heat until warm to the touch, about 5 minutes.
- Mix the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed for 5 minutes, until the mixture holds a stiff peak.
- Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating on medium speed.
- Scrape down the bowl and add the melted chocolate, vanilla, and espresso and mix for 1 minute until the chocolate in completely blended in. If the buttercream seems very soft, allow it to cool and beat again.
Voila!
