Espresso Cupcakes

Between comments here and on Facebook, a few of you have asked for this recipe and because I’m too lazy to type it more than once, I’ll just post it here. 

A friend of mine, Sue, suggested these to try while on my quest for wedding cupcakes.  The original recipe came from the Betty Crocker website but as with most recipes, I tweaked it a little to accommodate what I had or was willing to purchase to make them.

Espresso Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 box chocolate fudge cake mix (I used a triple fudge mix)
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee (I used 1 T. of very finely ground espresso coffee)

Filling:
8 oz. mascarpone cheese (I used 1-8oz pkg. of cream cheese plus 1/4c. whipping cream -- too cheap to buy the mascarpone)
2 teaspoons milk
2 tsp. instant espresso coffee (again I used the finely ground espresso coffee)
1 cup powdered sugar

Frosting (I used a completely different frosting than what they used) & garnish:
1 tsp. instant espresso coffee (used finely ground espresso)
1 – 12 oz. Betty Crocker Whipped milk chocolate frosting
Chocolate covered espresso beans, for garnish on top

Frosting I used:

Beat together:
6 T. butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Add in:
1 tsp. finely ground espresso coffee
1/2 cup whipping cream
Beat in: 1/4 cup cocoa powder
5 cups powdered sugar
until light and fluffy

This makes a very stiff frosting.  If your not going to use a decorating bag/tip, you might want to add a couple more tablespoons of liquid to make it more spreadable.

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350.  Place paper baking cups in 2 – 12 cup muffin pans.

2.  Beat cake mix, water, oil & eggs on low for 30 seconds then on medium for 2 minutes.  Gently stir in espresso powder.  (I messed up and dumped it in at the beginning with everything else and it seemed to work just as well.)  Divide batter evenly among the 24 cups.

3.  Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes then remove from pan to a cooling rack.  Cool completely.

4.  In a medium bowl, beat filling ingredients together until blended well and nice and fluffy.  Spoon mixture into a decorating bag fitted with a round decorating tip or a bismarck tip.

5.  Poking tip into the top of the cupcake, gently fill the bag until the cupcake expands just a little but doesn’t burst, approx. 1 Tablespoon.

6.  Frost as desired.  I used a star decorating tip from my handy dandy Pampered Chef decorator tool.

7.  ENJOY!

There you have it.  They have a coffee taste but not overpowering.  I don’t like coffee and I like them.