Spicy's Sweet Treats

Chocolate Cappuccino Cupcakes

By: Old-Fashioned Bake Sale Book

 This recipe is one of the best cupcakes that I had ever made. They have a rich chocolate flavor and they are super moist inside. The cool thing about this recipe is that you can change anything that you want in it so it is kid friendly, and you can either take the easy way out and use a store bought cake mix and frosting or make them from scratch.  

Ingredients:

• 1 Package (18.25 ounces) Dark Chocolate Cake Mix*
• 1 1/3 Cup Strong Brewed Or Instant Coffee At Room Temperature
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil Or Melted Butter
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1 Container (16 ounces) Prepared Vanilla Frosting*
• 2 Tablespoons Coffee Liqueur (Optional)
• Grated Chocolate (Milk, Dark, Or Espresso Chocolate Candy Bar)
• Chocolate-Covered Coffee Beans (Optional)
• Additional Coffee Liqueur (Optional) 

* I actually make the box cake mix from scratch if I don't have a box cake mix of that flavor. Same with the prepared vanilla frosting.

Dark Chocolate Cake Mix From Scratch Recipe:

•  1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 3/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons White Sugar
• 1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Dutch Cocoa
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/8 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Shortening Or Butter

Vanilla Frosting From Scratch Recipe:

• 3 Cups Confectioners' Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
• 3 Tablespoons Milk
• 3/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

*I don't use the liqueur when I make this recipe. I use strong coffee in the cake batter and espresso to pour over them when they are cooled. Also, I just keep the frosting recipe the same and omit the liqueur as well.


 Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 24 regular size (2 1/2 inch) muffin cups with paper muffin cup liners.
2. Beat cake mix, coffee, oil, and eggs with electric mixer at low speed 30 seconds. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes. 
3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups filling 2/3 full. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.
4. Combine frosting and 2 tablespoons liqueur in a small bowl; mix well. Before frosting, poke about 10 holes in the cupcake with a toothpick. Pour 1 to 2 teaspoons of liqueur over top of each cupcake, if desired. Frost and sprinkle with chocolate. Garnish with chocolate-covered coffee beans, if desired. 

* I just used a regular sized freezer bag and filled it with the frosting. I cut off the tip of the bag and piped away. I'm not going to lie, the chocolate curls on the top of the cupcakes were accidental. I tried to make the Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Curls, and I over cooked the chocolate in the microwave. No big deal, I continued to use it and spread it in the pan. Instead of making curls I just chopped it up and sprinkled it on top. It still turned out great, just not what I intended. But, who cares?! You make something out of it and try something new.


Here is the Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Curls Recipe:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/how-tomake-chocolate-curls/