I love chocolate and coffee so why not bring them together?! You might have noticed most of my chocolate cakes having a healthy splash of coffee; it really amps up the chocolate flavor. For this recipe I went all in on the espresso! There’s a lot in the batter and the buttercream is flavored with instant espresso and a splash or cocoa powder. In the mood to try more easy cupcake recipes? Check out my homemade vanilla cupcake recipe!
A Few Hints and Tips
- If you want to add a little something extra to the recipe you can hollow the cupcake out and fill it with chocolate ganache. I use a cupcake corer for this but a spoon or large piping tip works too.
- To make the chocolate ganache melt half a cup of nice chocolate with a third a cup of cream and spoon into the hollowed out cupcake.
- You can make a ganache with any liquid really so go ahead and add coffee, brandy, bourbon or whatever else you desire instead of the cream! If you don’t have chocolate covered espresso beans handy you can always add a drizzle of ganache on top of the buttercream for some contrast.
How to Make mocha Cupcakes
1. Add the wet ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together.
2. Sift together the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.
3. Add the wet ingredients the dry ingredients.
4. Distribute batter evenly to cupcake papers.
5. In a medium bowl, sift the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa.
6. Add espresso powder.
7. Remove the core of the cupcake.
8. Drizzle chocolate ganache.
9. Pipe buttercream.
If you’ve tried these cupcakes then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Mocha Cupcakes
Video
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS
For the Cupcakes:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ⅔ cups granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder nice quality
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tbsp baking powder
- ½ cup sour cream warm
- 1 cup buttermilk warm
- 3 eggs large
- 1 1/4 cups coffee hot 300ml, strong
- 1/2 cup water
- ¾ cup veggie oil
For the Buttercream:
- 1/2 pound butter unsalted, room temperature
- 1 lb confectioners sugar
- 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tbsp espresso powder
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
For the Assembly:
- 1/2 cup chocolate covered espresso beans
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chopped, melted, cooled
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS
For the Cupcake Batter:
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Add papers to a cupcake pan.
- Sift together the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together.
- Add the wet ingredients the dry ingredients.
- Whisk to combine then mix on level 2 for two minutes.
- Distribute batter evenly to cupcake papers. Bake for about 15-20 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow time to cool for 10 minutes to cool fully.
For the Mocha Buttercream:
- In a medium bowl, sift the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa and espresso powder.
- In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter for about 5 minutes.
- Beat in the confectioners sugar mixture slowly.
- Add vanilla and drizzle in the cream while beating until desired consistency is reached. Transfer to a piping fitted with an 858 tip.
For the Ganache:
- Give chocolate a rough chop. Melt and allow to cool.
For the Assembly:
- Remove the core of the cupcake.
- Drizzle chocolate ganache.
- Pipe the buttercream.
- Top each dollop with a chocolate covered espresso bean. Dust with cocoa powder.
Notes
- You can make a ganache with any liquid really so go ahead and add coffee, brandy, bourbon or whatever else you desire instead of the cream! If you don't have chocolate covered espresso beans handy you can always add a drizzle of ganache on top of the buttercream for some contrast.
Nutrition
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Hi John
thank you for this awesome blog, I love watching your videos and making your recipes
I was wondering, can i make these cupcakes with Italian buttercream? if yes, how can i make the Italian buttercream a mocha flavored one?? i’m not sure how the cocoa and espresso powder would be added in
really appreciate all the work you do
Thanks Lein! I would just add in at the very end and it will be delicious! You could also mix iny melted and cooled chocolate with some coffee mixed in.
Hi John, I really want to try these cupcakes but let me know what exactly u mean by strong coffee, i mean how many teaspoons of coffee mixed in the 1 and 1/4 cups of water ?
Kizhi,
I don’t know how many teaspoons exactingly, but I made my coffee almost espresso! I hope you enjoy these cupcakes!
John
Hi there-is that a Wilton piping tip?? Please could you chow a picture of the tip so we can see the design? Cakes look awesome!
Linda,
I don’t have a photo of the tip but it is a large closed star tip! Hope that helps!
John
Hi John, can I please know what kind of tip you have used for piping. Also how many stipes of chocolate did you have on the piping bag to get that look? Kindly let me know
Gayathri,
I used an 858 tip to pipe the buttercream! I’m not sure how many I used! You may have to play around with it! Hope you enjoy!
John
Which coffee do you add in the cake. How would both cake and buttercream taste if we change the type of coffee?
Gurleen,
The type of coffee doesn’t matter, as long as it is very strong! I used espresso in the cake and espresso powder in the buttercream. You can switch up the types of coffee if you would like! I hope you like these cupcakes!
John