Espresso Cupcakes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I'm back from my awesome trip to Turkey and London! Though it has been an exhausting 12-day trip, JLo and I have fell absolutely in love with Turkey and we're definitely going back again someday. I can't believe such a beautiful country is still under the tourist radar. If it wasn't for JLo, i would have never thought to go there. Our original plan was to visit Greece; Turkey would be a bonus. But after much research, we came to an unanimous decision that Turkey deserved our full attention... and we were right. Aiyaaaaa... I don't want to go into detail about the trip or else I'm gonna start feeling sorry for myself; sitting here in my room, keeping warm and having no interest in the -8 degrees Celsius Poznanian world outside. Sigh, I wanna go backkkkkkkkk!!! The only time i left this building was probably on new years eve, when i went grocery shopping for the new years eve dinner we were going to have at Jack's apartment. It was a last minute idea, really, so this wasn't going to be another 5 dish Christmas dinner. I made a Caesar salad, lasagna (updated later), and brought over some Chinese dumplings (updated later) JLo and I made the day before. No celebration is complete without a dessert so I wanted to make something simple yet pleasing to the eyes. And there's nothing prettier / easier to make than... CUPCAKES!! Yup, i made Espresso Cupcakes ( JLo only likes coffee desserts) with a mascarpone filling and chocolate ganache top. I wanted to make them with a chocolate icing swirl but I don't think JLo's health savvy friends would be too happy about that... 討厭, 下次吧... So anyways, here's the 1st of many cupcake recipes to come, enjoy!

Espresso Cupcakes
from betty crocker & cupcakeproject
makes 12 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:

• CUPCAKES:
  
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee powder (more if using regular coffee)
  
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• FILLING:
• 1/2 container (4 oz, 125 g) of mascarpone cheese
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso coffee powder (more if using regular coffee)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

• CHOCOLATE GANACHE
• 100 g (3.5 oz) of dark chocolate broken into small pieces
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
  
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
   
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
   
3. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and instant espresso into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.
   
4. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
   
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine.
   
6. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine.
   
7. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
8. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 1/2 full.
   
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
10. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes [picture 1].
    
    
11. In medium bowl, beat mascarpone cheese, milk, 2 teaspoons espresso powder and the powdered sugar on medium speed until smooth [picture 2].
    
12. Spoon mixture into decorating bag fitted with 1/4-inch writing tip.
13. To fill each cupcake, insert tip of bag into center of cooled cupcake; gently squeeze bag until cupcake expands slightly but does not burst (each cupcake should be filled with about 1 tablespoon filling) [picture 3].
    
    
14. Heat the cream in a double boiler until it just starts to boil [picture 4].
    
15. Pour in the chocolate and stir until all the chocolate is melted and integrated with the cream [picture 5, 6].
    
16. While it is still warm, spread a thin layer of it over the cupcakes. It will harden when it cools.
17. Decorate with white chocolate shavings.

Espresso Cupcakes