Quite possibly the perfect cupcake.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love coffee: I drink cups of it every day; I have a museum of coffee-making devices; I get really excited just thinking about having coffee. I have a tendency to bounce up and down and repeat to myself, “Coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee.”
And it’s my birthday!—or it was yesterday. Which means birthday party, which means cake. I get pretty intense when it comes to cake. You may have seen my previous post about the Night Vale scarf, in which I talk a bit about my experience making my friend’s 30th birthday cake. Cake is serious business.
I’ve been asked which I like more: cake or pie. That is an incredibly difficult question, because I really love pie. I love the flaky pastry crust and how well it complements the flavor and texture of the fruit filling. I love its simplicity and deliciousness.
But cake has so much potential. The possible flavor combinations are endless, and it can fit any occasion or palate, as down-home or high-society as you want. If done well, cake could be the perfect dessert. However, a lot of the time, cake is just pretty ok. That is incredibly disappointing to me.
So I make cakes. I’m recently getting into cupcakes, because they are easier to eat and more accessible in party situations. I decide what kind of flavors and textures I want to include in my cakes, and then scour the internet for recipes that act as a springboard, with deliciousness as the highest priority. In the realm of cake, there is nothing more disappointing to me than a very pretty, very tasteless cake. However, to quote the internet, “¿por qué no los dos?” Then I figure out how I want to make it.
In today’s venture, I wanted to combine chocolate, coffee, and little caramel. I already knew I wanted to make black magic cake, since it is a not-too-sweet, exceedingly dark chocolate cake, and it already calls for coffee. I modified the recipe very slightly by using espresso instead. Then I found some basic coffee butter cream frosting recipes and got an idea of how I wanted to make the frosting. Lastly, I threw together a caramel sauce recipe to top it off. The combination is just the right amount of dark chocolate; sweet, creamy coffee; and caramel. It tastes amazing, and even people who do not usually like coffee at all really loved it.
The Cake: Black Magic Cake
Black magic cake is a really easy cake to make, and it’s really delicious. While it has coffee in it, usually you can’t really tell that there is. It just makes the cake have a darker, more complex chocolaty flavor. However, because it is possible for me to make coffee concentrate, I really like this for my chocolate raspberry cake. I just use a couple of tablespoons of concentrated coffee, and then about 6 tablespoons of fresh pressed raspberry juice to make an incredible chocolate raspberry cake.
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup cooled espresso (or strongly brewed coffee)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Add eggs, cooled espresso, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.
Mix for a couple minutes until smooth. The batter will be thin.
Distribute batter among the cupcake wrappers in the cupcake pan.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Remove from oven. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes to a wire rack to continue cooling. Wait until the cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting.
Easy peasy lemon squeezey. One bowl, no fuss, and a really lovely cupcake.
The Frosting: Coffee Butter Cream Frosting
This frosting is really just a basic butter cream frosting, but instead of milk or cream, you add espresso. I usually use a decent amount of frosting for my cakes and cupcakes, so this recipe makes rather a lot of frosting. However, the texture and flavor are so nice when combined with the cake and caramel sauce that a lot of frosting on each cupcake actually makes it better. Even if you don’t really like a lot of frosting usually.
I call my mixer the Frosting Machine because that's what it does, and it does it well.
When making frosting, it is important to remember to take the butter out of the refrigerator a while before you start using it. All the ingredients, but especially the butter, need to be at room temperature for frosting to work out how it’s supposed to. Homemade frosting can be really easy and delicious if it’s a good recipe, and it’s done right. It can be an absolute nightmare if it isn’t.
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder—or enough to give it the right consistency
5 tbsp espresso (or strongly brewed coffee) – or enough to give it the right flavor and consistency
In an electric mixer, beat the butter until fluffy.
In a separate large bowl, combine powdered sugar and cocoa. Mix until the cocoa is distributed fairly evenly into the powdered sugar.
Slowly add the sugar and cocoa mixture to the butter, about ½ cup at a time, mixing until pretty smooth after each addition. After every few additions, make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula so everything mixes evenly and consistently. Once you have added about ¾ of the sugar and cocoa mixture, the frosting will become a little stiff. Start adding one or two tablespoons of espresso between each addition, until you have added all the sugar and cocoa mixture, and about 5 tablespoons of espresso.
Mix until smooth and creamy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix again.
If your frosting is a little stiff, you can add a little more coffee. If your frosting is a little wet, add small amounts of cocoa powder until you get the consistency you want. Use the frosting to frost your cupcakes.
I am still getting used to frosting cupcakes, but that one in the front is pretty, so--uh--focus on that one.
Cocoa powder is really great in this recipe because it gives the frosting a better consistency, cuts the sweetness just a little, and gives it a well-rounded flavor.
The Topping: Caramel Sauce
The caramel sauce makes this cupcake a masterpiece, as opposed to just a really good cupcake. I suppose you don’t really need to add the caramel sauce on top if you don’t want to. But that idea makes me a little sad.
Also, I suppose if you are too daunted by the idea of making caramel sauce, you could just buy some from the store. But you should at least try it first. Yes, it is the most difficult part of this recipe. Yes, it does require some amount of precision. Yes, it could go horribly wrong and end up completely inedible (I know from experience).
But it’s not really hard. Not really. It’s pretty quick, and simple, and easy enough. Plus, it’s delicious. We ended up with about a half a cup or so of extra caramel, so we had a bit of an impromptu caramel party! Which entailed hanging out and trying not to shovel caramel into our faces and failing.
Alas, poor Caramel Sauce. I knew him, Horatio.
For this recipe, it is important that the butter and cream are at room temperature. Remember to take them out of the refrigerator a while before hand, so they can warm up. Also, it helps me to have a beer or a glass of wine or another alcoholic beverage before I start making anything resembling caramel because I tend to ruin things by over-thinking. Not that I am advocating drinking to people who shouldn’t drink or don’t want to. Just keep in mind that over-thinking caramel is silly and you shouldn’t do it.
Put heavy cream and vanilla into an easily pourable container and set aside. Measure the butter and salt and have them ready to be put into the hot caramel syrup. Get a bowl or container ready for the hot caramel to cool in.
In a saucepan with a heavy bottom, mix sugar and water. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar is basically dissolved. Stop stirring, and increase the temperature to medium or a little higher and bring the sugar and water to a boil. Do not stir it.
Stirring can cause sugar crystals to form as the sugar molecules are pushed together, which is cool and science-y, but not delicious in caramel sauce.
If there is sugar on the side of the pan that is bothering you, you can get a pastry or basting brush wet with water, and wash down the sides of the pan. Boil the syrup until it is amber in color. It is ok if the color is a little uneven.
Remove the pan from heat and carefully whisk in the cream. It will bubble, and it is very hot, so be careful. Stir in the butter until it is melted and mixed in. Add the salt and stir. Pour caramel sauce into a container to cool. Don’t worry too much about getting all the caramel out of the pan, sometimes the caramel on the bottom of the pan has a slightly different consistency because it is hotter and cooks a little longer. I tend to just let that stay in the pan and then eat it with a spoon when no one is watching.
Allow the caramel sauce to cool. Once it has cooled, drizzle the caramel over the cupcakes, and enjoy.
They're all gone now, and I am sad for that. But I will cherish the memories.
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup cooled espresso (or strongly brewed coffee)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, cooled espresso, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. The batter will be thin.
Distribute batter among the cupcake wrappers in the cupcake pan. Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes to a wire rack to continue cooling. Frost once completely cooled
Coffee Butter Cream Frosting
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
5 tbsp espresso (or strongly brewed coffee)
In an electric mixer, beat the butter until fluffy.
In a separate large bowl, mix powdered sugar and cocoa.
Slowly add the sugar and cocoa mixture to the butter, about ½ cup at a time, mixing after each addition. After every few additions, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Once you have added about ¾ of the sugar and cocoa mixture, start adding one or two tablespoons of espresso between each addition, until you have added all the sugar and cocoa mixture, and about 5 tablespoons of espresso.
Mix until smooth and creamy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix again.
If too stiff, add a little more coffee. If too wet, add small amounts of cocoa powder until you get the right consistency. Frost cupcakes.
Put heavy cream and vanilla into an easily pourable container and set aside. Measure the butter and salt and have them ready. Get a heat-proof bowl or container ready for the hot caramel to cool in.
In a saucepan with a heavy bottom, mix sugar and water. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar is basically dissolved. Stop stirring, and increase the temperature to medium or a little higher and bring the sugar and water to a boil. If desired, you can wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry or basting brush but do not stir. Boil the syrup until it is amber in color.
Remove the pan from heat and carefully whisk in the cream and vanilla. The sauce will bubble. Stir in the butter. Stir in the salt. Pour caramel sauce into a container to cool.
Once it has cooled, drizzle the caramel over the cupcakes, and enjoy.
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