This is an awesome recipe we found from bostongirlbakes.com
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 3/4 cup (90 g) organic all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (42 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoonsbaking powder
- 1/2 teaspoonsbaking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 3/4 cup (149 g) organic cane sugar (or use granulated white sugar)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sour cream (or greek yogurt)
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil (or vegetable or canola)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the espresso buttercream
- 2 1/2 sticks (20 Tbs.) organic unsalted butter softened(20 tablespoons)
- 2 1/2 cups (300 g) powdered (confectioners) sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare two muffin pans with cupcake liners.
- Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, instant espresso powder and salt in large bowl.
- In a second mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, sour cream (or greek yogurt), vanilla extract, and sugar .
- Fill each cupcake well about 3/4 cup full of batter.
- Bake for about 14 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Remove cupcakes from pans and allow to cool on a wire rack. Cool completely.
- For the frosting combine the butter and powdered sugar and mix on low, then increase the speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in your heavy cream, vanilla extract, and instant espresso powder. Beat on medium-high for 8 minutes.
- With a pastry bag and tip attached, pipe the frosting on each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles. Store at room temperature for up to 2 days. Refrigerate for up to 3 days, just bring back to room temperature before serving.
Notes
- Be sure to measure your flour accurately. For a full tutorial on how and why, read this post.
- Be sure to use natural unsweetened cocoa powder not dutch process. They are not the same. You can read about the differences here.
- When baking these, it’s best to rotate the pans halfway through their baking time. Every oven can have hot spots so they may not bake evenly. Give them a turn in the oven, so they all bake up pretty.
- Once they are baked, be sure to take them out of the pans and cool on a cooling rack. Leaving them in your pans means they will continue to bake and could end up dry.