I'm beginning to become bolder in my cupcake baking. Okay, well, slightly bolder. I'm able to look at a recipe and loosely follow it now. I don't have to panic when I don't have all of the ingredients since I've finally nailed down some solid substitutes for ingredients. This recipe I mostly followed, with some exceptions. For the frosting, I just looked at the ingredients once and then did my own thing with them, but similar to what's outlined.
As always, I like cupcakes made from scratch, but every now and then I will doctor up a box mix. I never use a straight up box mix unless I'm a) in a super time crunch, b) ruin a batch and don't have the ingredients to replicate it and NEED a batch of cupcakes, or c) I'm testing out frostings so the cakes don't matter. When I do use a boxed mix I always change it a bit. I'll add an extra egg, use melted butter instead of oil, substitute milk for the water (or other liquids), etc...
This recipe is a boxed base, but with lots of extras added in, like brewed coffee, coffee flavoring, sour cream, milk, and egg whites. No, I did not come up with doctoring combination, the original blogger did, and man, did she nail it. These cupcakes are SUPER AMAZINGLY fluffy and moist. I would make the cakes and not frost them and then eat the whole batch.
I didn't....but I would...
I don't have coffee extract, nor do they have it at the grocery store near me, but I decided I'd sub in some brewed coffee and some of coffee candy flavoring oil. It worked well. It didn't over-power the cake, but gave it just a hint of coffee flavor. I also used vanilla bean paste instead of extract for a little extra punch. In the frosting, I also used some brewed coffee, coffee flavoring and a little sprinkle (may an 1/8 teaspoon) of espresso ground from a N'Espresso capsule. The recipe below is how I made it with what I had on hand.
These may be in the top 10 of cupcakes I've made. My last post, with the Watermelon Cupcakes, also might make the list. They went like hotcakes at the cookout, with people telling me I should be selling them. Oh if only I could make a living on that...
French Vanilla Cappuccino Cupcakes
adapted from Living Better Together
1 box of white cake mix
1 package vanilla instant pudding mix
4 egg whites
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. brewed coffee (or coffee extract)
1/4 tsp. coffee flavoring oil for candy (LorAnn brand) (If using extract, omit this)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
For the frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4-5 cups powdered sugar (I used about 4.5)
About 1 cup instant French vanilla cappuccino powder (I bought a box that had 4 little packs that was maybe 3/4 cup)
1/8 tsp. coffee flavoring candy oil
2 tbsp. brewed oil
2-3 tbsp. heavy cream
1/8 tsp. espresso grounds
1. Preheat oven to 400. Line 20 muffin cups with liners.
2. Beat all cake ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium for about 1 minute until combined.
3. Fill liners 1/2-3/4 way full and place in the oven. Lower the temperature to 375 and bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. Let cool completely
5. For the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter for 2 minutes until fluffy. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, mixing on low in between additions. When it gets very thick, add a tablespoon or two of brewed coffee. Add more powdered sugar and beat on low. When it gets thick again, add a tablespoon or two of cream. Add the cappuccino powder, coffee flavoring oil, and espresso grounds and beat again until fluffy. Add more cream or sugar depending on the consistency you want.
6. Frost cupcakes and tell your husband several times he can't eat them all.
Until I get real labels made, I used sticker paper, a 2-inch hole punch, a rubber stamp, and a marker to make some labels for my boxes. Not bad for 3 minutes....
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