Espresso cupcakes for National Cupcake Week

Organised by British Baker Magazine, National Cupcake Week is designed to get more of us into this kitchen between 18th and 25th September. It’s aimed at both individuals and organisations, and there are events planned up and down the country. We’ve put together an easy cupcake recipe using our favourite ingredient – coffee! If you run a cafe or coffee shop, you can get involved by offering a batch of our caffeine-packed creations alongside your normal menu. Alternatively, just pull on your best apron and get the wooden spoon out, as these are perfect for coffee breaks. Here’s what to do:

To make 10 to 12 cupcakes (depending on size), you’ll need:

Espresso cupcakes recipe ingredients

For the cakes:

• Either 30ml freshly-made espresso coffee plus 200ml hot water, or 230ml strong, hot, black coffee
• 60g cocoa
• 180g self raising flour
• 110g softened butter or margarine
• 200g brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 freerange eggs

For the buttercream topping:

• 1 tablespoons warm milk
• 1/4 teaspoon instant coffee powder
• 225g icing sugar (plus a little extra)
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 tablespoons cocoa, sifted

Optional: chocolate-covered coffee beans for decoration

What to do:

Preheat the over to 180 degrees Celsius, and prepare a muffin tin with paper cases. Mix the cocoa and coffee together with the hot water, if using.

In a separate bowl, beat the butter or margarine and sugar together until fluffy, then add the eggs a little at a time. Add the flour, and beat until you have a smooth batter. Add in the chocolate/coffee mixture and beat until smooth.

Divide the mixture between the muffin cases – you should get 10 to 12 depending on how big the cases are. Don’t fill the cases more than 3/4 full or they’ll overflow when baking!

Transfer to the over, and bake for around 12 to 15 minutes until well risen and springy on top. Remove from the tin, and leave to cool on a wire rack while you make the topping.

For the buttercream, dissolve the coffee in the milk and add in the other ingredients. Mix everything until smooth, adding a little more icing sugar if it looks a little thin. Pipe swirls on top of the cupcakes, and add a chocolate-covered coffee bean if like.

For coffee ingredients, including coffee beans, coffee supplies and coffee accessories for your commercial coffee business, take a  look at our main website www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk

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