WE'VE MOVED

Hello!

Thank you for the amazing 8 years here at A Baked Creation, we can't thank you enough for the memories! But we've decided to move over to a new site - Sincerely, Syl. Please join us there for future posts on all the things you loved here!

Sincerely,
Syl

Monday, February 16, 2009

Iron Cupcake: Earth - Coffee

Happy Family Day everyone!
Tomorrow will be a work day and you might need... Cocoa Coffee Cupcakes!
As you may already know, last December we joined Iron Cupcake: Earth (similar to Iron Chef, but with cupcakes) and this month's ingredient challenge is Coffee! Interestingly enough, we don't drink coffee on a regular basis (or wine, which is why we didn't do January's challenge). Maybe one or two times a year at the most! So we were planning on just buying coffee at Tim Horton's, but my mother said she could make us coffee. Sure enough, she had these lovely coffee beans that smelled great. She then grounded them up and filtered them for us. "Thanks mom!"

We've actually noticed a number of chocolate cake recipes that include coffee. So... why not right? Even if we're not huge fans of coffee, we love chocolate!


Perfect fit: Coffee filter and measuring cup!

Chocolate Butter Cupcakes

Recipe from Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse
(Makes about 20 regular cupcakes)

1/2 cup of hot coffee
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 cup of cold water
1 1/2 cups of cake flour
1 teaspoons of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and have all ingredients at room temperature. Also have your cupcake liners and pans ready.
  2. In a bowl, mix the hot coffee and cocoa powder together - no lumps!
  3. Whisk in the cold water.
  4. In another bowl, sift the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
  5. Using your electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  6. Slowly add in the eggs and the pure vanilla extract.
  7. Alternate the two bowls (coffee mixture and flour mixture) into the batter.
  8. Mix until smooth. Then using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into your cupcake liners.
  9. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

We finally found a wholesale place that sold these cups in bulk! Needless to say, we picked up quite a few (the drive is semi-far). We think they look good, they stand for themselves, and they cater to different eaters. For example, at the pleats they can be easily pulled and eaten like regular cupcakes. Or you can take advantage of their sturdy cup form and eat the cupcake with a fork, spoon, or spork. Here, we show a step-by-step pulling of the pleated sides:





Chocolate Coffee Buttercream
(Makes enough to frost a dozen cupcakes and a few more.)

1 tablespoon of coffee
1/2 cup of chopped chocolate
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 stick of butter
2 cups of confectioner's sugar
  1. Heat the cream over a double boiler until it bubbles. Mix in coffee.
  2. Remove from heat, pour heated coffee and cream over the chocolate.
  3. Let the mixture sit for about a minute and then whisk until smooth.
  4. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and confectioner's sugar until fluffy.
  5. Slowly add in chocolate coffee mixture.
  6. Mix until smooth and scoop into a piping bag.

This is what happens when we're low on frosting!


We haven't done a cross-section before, so here is our first photo of a cupcake half!


Yummy! I am bringing this to work!

You can vote for us HERE between March 1st to March 6th. The winner will receive these awesome prizes:
Iron Cupcake: Earth is sponsored by 1-800-Flowers.
You can also join in on the fun yourself! Click here to learn more about Iron Cupcake: Earth.

19 comments:

  1. These look wonderful! The combination of coffee and chocolate is perfect.

    I haven't finished my entry yet, I always end up procrastinating. You definitely have my vote when it comes time!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your pictures are mouth-watering! And your website is so amazing!

    Can you share where you found your cute cupcake liners in bulk?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ooh they look so lovely, i'm going to bookmark these to bake.

    ReplyDelete
  4. these look awesome!!
    but telle me please, how much is a stick of butter? i have no idea!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Calm In The Kitchen - We look forward to your coffee cupcake creation! We like seeing what everyone comes up with! =)

    Anonymous - Are you located in Canada? We bought ours from Wholesale Club.

    apparentlyjessy - They are! I can't stop at just 1...

    Helen - Thank you! They were gone pretty fast at work!

    annka - Thanks! We're not sure, but our butter comes in rectangle sticks. I went on Google to look it up, and this is what I found:
    1 stick = 1/2 a cup
    1 stick = 120g
    1 stick = 120ml
    1 stick = 4 ounces
    I hope that helps!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chibi - Oops sorry! I've added the baking time, 20-25 minutes or until the cake tester comes clean. Thanks for bringing that to my attention! =)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Delicious looking cupcakes.

    I am not a coffee fan but I don't mind a little in my chocolate desserts.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi!
    I want to make these, but using chocolate instead of cocoa powder. Do you know how much chocolate should I use to substitute cocoa?
    I know I have to use less butter too..
    Hope you can help me :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sara - Thanks!

    Mia - Hmmm, sorry but we're not quite sure! We haven't tried substituting chocolates and cocoa powder before so we can't instruct you there.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, my. Delicious! I made these this afternoon and am in love... even if my frosting did turn out not so perfectly, they still taste heavenly.
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  11. K - Oh your photos, what a great site you have! I'm a huge fan of books, and I'm so glad to see your reading list. I think your frosting looks yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  12. YUUUUUUUM we are making these nooow they are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good, yummy yummy yummy i've got cupcake's in my tummy and it feels sooo good xxxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous, hehe glad you're having a fun and yummy time! =)

    ReplyDelete
  14. what kind of chocolate for the frosting? unsweetened? thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous, I used semisweet chocolates.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I just made these for my friends birthday, she is a huge coffee/chocolate fan. They are baking in the oven right now and if the batter is any indication they will be amazing. I'm sure I lost at least one cupcake just from eating the batter! (I know it has raw eggs and is bad, but its SO tasty!)

    I'm using a Kahlua buttercream instead of the chocolate coffee buttercream.

    ReplyDelete