It Doesn’t Have To Be Your Birthday To Enjoy Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes

I love to bake cakes, cupcakes, and cookies for every occasion. Like music, baking is my therapy. I love the creative process, I love the challenge, and I love to make people happy. Lately, I’ve been on a cupcake baking spree. I even purchased a couple of mini bundt pans to make these sweet handheld treats. Anytime I want to experiment with a recipe, the WRAT staff volunteers to be my guinea pigs. They’ve yet to take me to task for making a bad cake, but then again, these people will eat anything if it’s free. In all seriousness, I don’t think I’ve ever made a dud for the WRAT crew. Even the less than stellar baked creations were edible. Our promo guru, Atomic Rob would eat an old shoe if I slapped frosting on it. It gives me such joy to see my friends and co-workers enjoy the baked goods I bring to the radio station. The last few items I brought into the studio went over so well, our Marketing Director, Jaclyn Farago asked me to share one of the crew’s favorite recipes with our WRAT listening family. Here you Go:   CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO CUPCAKES WITH RUSSIAN BUTTERCREAM Cupcake Recipe:    This will make 12 cupcakes. ½ c Boiled water 1½ tsp of instant espresso powder (I use Café Bustelo) ½ c whole milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour ½ c unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. baking soda Pinch of salt ½ c unsalted butter, at room temperature ½ c. regular white granulated sugar ½ c. light brown sugar 1 egg, at room temperature INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard-size muffin tin with paper liners. This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. In a large measuring cup, whisk the espresso powder into the boiled water until completely dissolved. Add the milk and vanilla extract and set aside to cool. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and both the white and light brown sugars until the butter looks light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and beat until just combined. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add the flour mixture alternating with the coffee - milk mixture, mixing until combined. Take a rubber spatula and lightly stir to make sure everything is combined. Do not over mix the batter. Fill each cupcake liner about two-thirds each with batter. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting the cupcakes.  It's Frosting Time! What Is Russian Buttercream? According to ChelSweets, Russian buttercream is a frosting that’s used on a lot of Russian and Eastern European cakes. It’s an insanely simple recipe that really is just butter and sweetened condensed milk. Russian Buttercream Recipe – The original recipe came from Chelsweets, but I modified it to use European Style butter which has a higher butterfat content than American butter. It’s important NOT to use regular American butter if you want the right consistency. American butter contains too much water. European Style butter has 82% butterfat. Your frosting will be smoother and creamier when using European Style butter. Ingredients: 8 ounces (2 sticks) of unsalted room temperature European Style butter such as Kerrygold or Plugra. Both can be found in a regular supermarket. 1 tsp vanilla extract ¼ tsp of salt 1- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk Instructions: Russian Buttercream Whip the room temperature unsalted butter on medium high speed with the whisk attachment of a stand mixer or hand mixer for at least 5 minutes. The butter should lighten in color as you incorporate air into it. Add in the vanilla extract and salt and mix on low speed until incorporated. Very Slowly, mix in the sweetened condensed milk, adding ¼ of the can at a time, mixing on a medium speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula throughout the process. The sweetened condensed milk sometimes pools at the bottom of the bowl, so be sure to scrape all the way to the bottom. If your frosting is broken or not stiff enough, you can add in powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time to thicken it and bring it together. You can either manually frost the cupcakes or pipe the buttercream on to the cupcakes using a pastry bag and a piping tip. A List Of Places At The Jersey Shore To Get Yummy Carrot Cake