Chocolate Cupcakes with an Espresso Bean Buttercream Icing

As many of you dedicated BS’ers may know, there is a baking club at my new place of employment. Well my turn to bring treats for the Treat of the Week Club isn’t until the end of March, but I was tapped in early. Since I haven’t made some fancy cupcakes lately, I decided to make these Chocolate Cupcakes with a rich Espresso Bean Buttercream icing.

Now for the chocolate cake, I cheated and made it with Saucy Sprinkle’s base:

• 1 Devil’s chocolate cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Mix the ingredients until completely smooth. Pour the batter into cupcake liners/tins and bake in a 350ºF oven for approx. 20-25 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean).

For the buttercream, combine the following into your own desired consistency:

• Icing Sugar (~3-5 cups)
• Butter (~1/2 cup)
• Strong brewed Espresso (~2-3 tbsp)
• Wilton Butter Flavouring (~1 tsp)
• Espresso bean grind to taste (~2-3 tsp)

Put the icing into a piping bag and pipe onto the cupcakes, top with a few chocolate covered coffee beans and serve to some friendly, hardworking people. Also a key thing to note when making the cheater base, popping these babies into the fridge overnight is OK – will add extra moisture to the cupcakes! 🙂

Carlene