We had another good, quiet week here in Maine. My back has been hurting from all of my gardening adventures, but other than that I’m doing well. We’ve eaten good food this week and watched good TV. I’m working on new projects and am excited about the future! So to celebrate, I decided to make chocolate espresso cupcakes. I’ve been itching to make cupcakes for a while and can’t believe it’s taken this long. I dreamed of a rich, dark chocolate cake base and a strong-yet-sweet espresso buttercream. 

Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes

As life goes, the recipe went off without a hitch first, but then presented some problems. I’m a little off my game motivation-wise right now with my back injury. The weather has also been bleak. But I began the week focusing on self-care. I had a little adventure Thursday to a cooking store and a gardening store, where I picked up 10 varieties of flowers, plants, and vegetable seeds for my garden. Along with 40 pound bags of soil. Monday and Tuesday were spent putting the finishing touches on my garden beds and doing some chores. 

When I went to the garden store I found myself in an aisle of spinning card racks, packed with packets of artfully illustrated seeds. I was overwhelmed at first by the amount of choice. And I struggled to squat down to see the ones on the bottom. The store smelled like birdseed and damp shoes from the rain outside. I studied the backs of each packet to learn growing times, seed depth, spacing, and puzzled them all together in my head. I also struggled to choose the flowers for my front-facing planter boxes. Initially I chose two varieties of blue and orange striped flowers, but they were harder to grow. I went with a variety of Zinnia’s that advertised height, abundance, and ease of care. 

Gardening + Baking

I can’t wait to see them spring up in a couple months. Vibrant yellows, reds, oranges, and blues. Last year my sole sunflower was eaten before its time. The back garden is perfect for my vegetables and fruits. Tomatoes, beets, scallions, and herbs, too. I’m so excited to go out when my back feels better and plant them all. Each morning I’m going to spring out of bed, grateful for my healthy body, and water them gleefully. It’ll be good for my mental health, too. And I can’t wait to cook everything. To pluck tomatoes off a vine as I make pizza. 

I’m so excited for spring weather. And spring produce. I’m counting the days until the farmers market starts. This week I found myself, too, working on an exciting creative project. Designing high-end dessert recipes for a dessert bar south of Portland. I spent a good portion of one day writing down ideas and mixing flavors, textures, and garnishes in my imagination. Unique flavors, classic pastries, and lots of color! I focused my menu around summer produce, championing berries, rhubarb, basil, and corn. When I was done I was captivated by how quickly time went by. Just like it does when I’m painting. 

Chocolate Cupcake Batter

More to come with that later. I received a very sweet email from a friend at the cafe in Owl’s Head Friday morning saying that everyone there wished me their best and that they missed me. For some reason, even though it wasn’t my fault, I had a little bit of guilt for closing so suddenly. It was beyond my control and I know I did the right thing. But I was just starting to get to know everyone. The message touched me and gave me a spring in my step all day. After that I pieced through my golden recipe box for my chocolate espresso cupcakes recipe. I developed it back in 2020 when I created my greeting card company. So I gave it a refresh. 

After I lined my cupcake tin with white papers I’ve been saving, I scanned my recipe and collected the ingredients. I added a few things too. Some cold brew from the fridge. Coffee extract. Sour cream. I went through the recipe, written by my former self, and critiqued my own ratios and ingredients. I lowered the sugar. Added more baking powder. I mixed my buttermilk with coffee and added sour cream and vegetable oil for softness. I took out a little butter, too, so the batter wasn’t too wet. Half of the cocoa powder was replaced with black cocoa to add more color and richness. And suddenly I had a luscious, thick brown cupcake batter. 

Frosting Troubles

I was still listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl, which I just finished. Hypnotically scooping spoonfuls of batter into the muffin tins. Filling them about 3/4 of the way to the top. I couldn’t help but lick the batter after I was done. Reminded of my childhood self baking cookies with my mom. That nostalgic crisp cloud of sugar crystals. Paying no attention to the raw egg or flour. Finally I placed my chocolate espresso cupcakes in the oven to bake and counted up on the timer. They filled the house with such a delicious mocha scent. Deep, dark chocolate with coffee undertones. Butter and cake sweetness. They took about 22 minutes. I let them cool for a couple hours as I ate my lunch and responded to some emails. Trying not to snack on them.

I thought about saving the frosting for the next day to give myself a rest. But I wanted to power through. And frosting and I have a long, troubled relationship. I think I knew subconsciously that I’d need the night to sleep on how to fix it. Probably the reason why I struggle with frosting sometimes is because it takes a lot of precision. Temperature consistency. Babysitting. When I say I want espresso buttercream, too, I want it to taste a lot like coffee. I don’t want a hint of coffee flavor, so I knew I wouldn’t be happy just adding a teaspoon of coffee extract. 

Espresso Buttercream

So I made an Italian meringue buttercream and impulsively added cold brew. I knew I couldn’t add straight up liquid, at least, so I heated up heavy cream and mixed it with the coffee. I added some chocolate chips too for a mocha undertone and to add some cocoa butter to help the frosting emulsify. But when I began pouring my liquid in, I knew it wasn’t flavorful enough. And it was too loose. My heart sank, knowing I would have to fix it somehow. Ultimately I had to fix it five or six times until it was perfect. But it made it infinitely more flavorful and luscious and I learned so much. I started by chilling the runny frosting to help it thicken. 

That didn’t work. When I whipped it again it split. Then I heated up the bowl with a blowtorch as it churned away, which also didn’t help. It was loose again, so back into the fridge it went. And I repeated my mistakes twice. Finally I covered the bowl and let it chill for a few hours while I contemplated. I remembered the delicious crémeux from the double chocolate cake I made last year and realized I needed to add more fat to emulsify it. So before I went to bed I stirred it over a double boiler, adding chocolate chips, a little heavy cream, and egg yolks. I cooked it like a pastry cream until it thickened. And it looked incredible. 

Piping + Cupcake Decorating

Nice and dark brown from the coffee and the chocolate. The cold brew had reduced and intensified. It was no longer split. So I let it cool and covered it, put it to bed in the fridge, and hoped for the best. On day two I finished my chocolate espresso cupcakes in the late morning. I took my bowl of frosting out of the fridge and it was set like a cold ganache. I had high hopes and took a deep breath as it whipped away. Immediately it lightened in color and texture and whipped into a perfectly luscious frosting. You couldn’t ask for a better texture. Or flavor. The chocolate espresso cupcakes would be so rich and potent and I couldn’t wait to try one.

Right before lunch I spooned it all into a piping bag with a star tip and placed my 20 cupcakes on a baking sheet. For a moment I felt like I was back at the cafe, prepping my little bakery section to sell to the public. It made me a little sad. But I continued, marveling at the swirls and edges of brown frosting that held their shape perfectly.

Coffee + Chocolate Flavors

I’m not perfect with my piping techniques, which I could practice, but they still came out gorgeous. I hid some imperfections with crunchy chocolate balls and chocolate sprinkles for garnish. The light through the afternoon window hit them beautifully and softly and I knew my photos would turn out incredible. Finally, the result of my hard work – I tasted one in its final form.

It tasted especially delicious after my frosting troubles. Starting with an easy peel of a wrapper and a tender, soft chocolate cake base. They’re so soft and light that they almost weigh nothing. But the flavor of the cake is pushed past that run of the mill boxed chocolate flavor due to the coffee, black cocoa, and sour cream. It’s so intensely chocolate-forward. Delicious.

The texture is incredible. And it pairs so well with the buttercream. A mixture between an Italian meringue buttercream and a crémeux, I suppose, with a long and winding journey to perfection. I adjusted the recipe to avoid all of my mistakes. But I could eat these all day. The frosting is so silky and smooth. The cake is to die for on its own. Which for me is the sign of a great cupcake. I thought about adding ganache in the middle, too, but I think it would be too much.

Cupcakes for Spring

We had a little celebration with these delicious desserts this weekend. For no reason other than pure joy. I’m celebrating my accomplishments – not money or success but pride in my personal growth and ability to keep my head above water. In the turbid waves of life. I’m so excited about the opportunities coming soon. About gardening and literally growing produce to eat. To meet new people and share my love of art and food and grow my network of creatives.

It’s May, so it’s finally starting to feel like spring. We’ll have about a week or two of it before summer hits us in the face. But this is one of the best times of the year. I’m inspired by watching the creative cooks on Masterchef and having time to visit cafes and bakeries around Maine as I plot my next move. For now I’ll be treating myself with chocolate espresso cupcakes and cold brew coffee. I may even eat one for breakfast. 

Thank you for reading! Be sure to check out my Etsy shop for 100’s of my recipe cards and art prints. Use code THEFORKEDRING for 25% off. Have a great week!

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Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes

Rich, deep chocolate cupcakes with a silky espresso buttercream

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate cake, cupcakes

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 20

Author theforkedring

Ingredients

• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/4 cup dutch cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup black cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 4 large eggs + 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tsp coffee extract
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup cold espresso
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix together the AP flour, dutch cocoa powder, black cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and 1 tsp kosher salt.
• Meanwhile mix 1 1/2 sticks of softened unsalted butter in a stand mixer with 1 cup white sugar and 1/3 cup brown sugar (2-3 minutes).
• Add 2 eggs, one at a time, as you continue to beat the butter mixture. Then, add vanilla and 1 tsp coffee extract.
• In a pyrex measuring cup or bowl, mix together the buttermilk, sour cream, 1/2 cup cold espresso, and 1/4 cup vegetable oil.
• With the mixer on low, alternate adding your flour mixture (1/3 at a time) and your buttermilk mixture (1/2 at a time) until you have a smooth batter.
• Spoon batter into small cupcake liners in standard cupcake pans, filling each 3/4 of the way full.
• Bake for 22-24 minutes until the tops spring back when pressed. Let rest for at least 15-30 minutes.
• To make frosting, combine 4 egg whites and 3/4 cup white sugar in a clean stand mixer bowl. Heat about an inch of water in a medium sauce pan over high heat.
• Once water is simmering, place your stand mixer bowl on top, being careful not to wet the bottom of the bowl. Cook and stir for 5-10 minutes until the sugar dissolves.
• Remove your bowl from heat and transfer to the stand mixer. Whip on high speed for 5-7 minutes, until you have stiff peaks.
• On low speed, slowly add 2 sticks of softened butter, 1-2 tablespoons at at time. You should end up with a light and fluffy frosting.
• Meanwhile, microwave 1/2 cup cold espresso in a microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute, until nearly boiling. Add your chocolate chips and egg yolks and stir to combine.
• On low speed, slowly add your coffee/chocolate mixture to the frosting until combined. Then add 2 tsp coffee extract.
• Remove cupcakes from tray. Transfer frosting to a large piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe generous swirls onto each cupcake.

Notes

• To make sure your egg whites and sugar are ready to be whipped, you can test them with a thermometer (aim for 160°F). 
• If your frosting is too runny: place in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes and whip again. 
• If your frosting splits, melt it back down by gently warming the bowl. Try to cook out some of the moisture, like I did, over a double boiler. Then, cool overnight and whip.