Soft, moist, and delicious coffee-flavored cupcakes. Frosted with the most delicious cream cheese whipped cream frosting. Truly, every coffee lover's dream cake.
Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C. Place cupcake liners in a cupcake tin.
Dissolve instant coffee powder in 1/4 cup milk. Stir then set aside to completely dissolve.
1/4 cup milk, 2 teaspoon freeze-dried instant coffee
Combine milk and vinegar in a small bowl. Set aside for around 10 minutes until it curdles.
1/2 cup milk, 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl whisk butter, oil, and sugar until pale. Add eggs one at a time. Continue beating until combined. Add buttermilk and coffee mixture and beat again.
1/2 cup unsalted butter, 3/4 cup white sugar, 2 tablespoon canola oil, 2 large eggs
Sift dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Stir until there are no more traces of flour. Do not overmix.
Fill each cupcake liner with the batter. They should just be ⅔ full. Do not overfill.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove cupcakes from the pan and transfer them to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting
Place 1/4 cup of the cream and coffee powder in a bowl. Stir until dissolved. Add to the rest of the cream. Chill while making the cream cheese. Proceed with the next steps detailed in this recipe.
Frost the cupcakes (see step-by-step photo in the post)
Make a hole in the center of each cupcake using a knife or the back of a piping tip. Fill a piping bag with a small tip with half of the frosting (or ziplock bag with a snipped corner). Fill the cupcakes.
Pipe: Transfer the remaining frosting to a piping bag fitted with a decorating tip. Pipe on to the cupcakes. Top with mini chocolate chips if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Freeze-Dried Instant Coffee - considered the highest quality of instant coffee available. To be specific, I used freeze-dried arabica coffee. Use 2 1/2 teaspoons for a stronger coffee flavor.
Frosting - double the recipe if piping tall swirls. You make skip filling the center of the cupcakes and go straight to pipping.
Storage and shelf-life: Store the cupcakes UNFROSTED in an air-tight container so they don't dry out. It should last for 4 to 5 days.
Nutrition: Frosting is not included in the calculation.