It’s that time of year here…that yummy cup of frou frou coffee just whispers your name until you find yourself nestled into an armchair at the local coffee shop watching it snow and sipping a mocha or a latte. One with chocolate drizzled on top…or caramel.
Why not capture those flavors in a cupcake?
These yummy treats are coffee-infused chocolate cupcakes filled with creamy caramel and topped with coffee buttercream.
Oh. My.
Bring it on winter!
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
- One boxed chocolate cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)
- 1/4c milk (warmed)
- 2 T instant coffee granules
Caramel Cream Filling:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 c. water
- 1 c. heavy whipping cream
- 1 T. powdered sugar
Frosting:
- 2 sticks (8 oz.) salted butter
- 2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter
- 3 c. powdered sugar
- 2 T. vanilla
- 2 T. instant coffee granules
Directions:
Cupcakes:
- Place 2 T. instant coffee granules into milk and stir. Allow this to sit and dissolve.
- Make mix according to box
- Add coffee/ milk mixture to cake batter and blend well.
- Scoop into 24 cupcake liners in cupcake tins and bake at 350F degrees for about 20 minutes.
- Remove from tins immediately and allow to cool on counter.
Caramel Filling:
- Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir constantly and cook until mixture turns a caramel brown color. (about 10 minutes)
- Remove from heat and slowly add cream, whisking vigorously (this will spit and splatter as you add it, so use caution!).
- Chill in refrigerator until cold. (I did this the night before and just left it overnight)
- When mixture is cold, add powdered sugar and beat on high until creamy and smooth.
Frosting:
- Add 2T vanilla and 2T instant coffee granules together in a small bowl and allow the coffee to dissolve.
- Place butters and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until very fluffy.
- Add vanilla/coffee mixture and beat until well combined.
- Core cupcakes and pipe caramel filling inside.
- Pipe frosting on top and sprinkle with a little cocoa powder.
My thoughts: Goodness, I love these cupcakes. The filling is a touch fussy since you need to chill it until cold, but I have to say that it is WORTH the wait. I’m on a diet and I took ONE bite (to get a picture of the filling, of course..!) and I couldn’t stop. I had to finish the cupcake. I blew my diet for this cupcake…it is just so good. Two people have asked for *just* a bowl of the coffee buttercream frosting…haha!
Sigh. I will dream of these cupcakes until the diet is over….in two months….and then I will eat 3 of them.
Make these and enjoy them on my behalf!!!! ~r
In other (non-recipe!) news, I finally have a DSLR camera! (Nikon D5200) Yay! I feel like my photos are a little off as I adjust to it though. I had a system for making my point and shoot work for me and now I’m trying to adjust my system to get the right lighting and exposure. I previously used a homemade light box to control my lighting and now I’m just so excited to sit down at a coffee shop and take pictures using natural light. Yesterday I met my friend Ben for coffee and before he could take a bite or sip of his treats I was like, “WAIT!!! I have to take a picture of that!” So much fun. So my apologies for my fairly awful pictures in this post– I’m learning!!!
Yummy coffee shop treats (and practice with my new camera!)
Want some other winter dessert ideas? Click on the image to be taken to the recipe.
(If you don’t pop the whole thing in your mouth you will have chocolate running all over you…just FYI). In our area, Tim Tams are only available near Christmas, so Tim Tam Slams have become a fun Christmas tradition!
