These coffee cupcakes are every coffee lover's dream. Fluffy coffee-infused sponge topped with silky smooth coffee buttercream. Perfection.
Chris has been begging me for months to make a coffee flavoured bake. It's been on his mind ever since my last coffee dessert, which was my Tiramisu Cake with Amaretto. Finally, I got around to making these coffee cupcakes, which are a new and improved adaption of the coffee cupcakes we used to sell in the bakery.
They were hugely popular with all the University students who would come in between classes to refuel on caffeine and sugar. (Our first store was right next to a University campus). These were always a hit with the students, along with our Red Velvet Cupcakes and Cinnamon Swirl Muffins.
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Ingredients for Coffee Cupcakes
Ingredients for the Coffee Cupcakes:
- Butter - Salted or Unsalted will be fine, but if you use salted, just omit the extra salt from the recipe
- White Sugar - Extra fine white sugar will incorporate best into the cake batter
- Golden Sugar - also known as soft light brown sugar, this will help add a slight caramel note to the sponge cake
- Egg - large eggs are best, and always free range
- Vanilla - vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste will work great, try to avoid vanilla essence
- Espresso Powder - this is the super finely ground powder, it's not the same as instant coffee granules, look specifically for 'espresso powder'
- All-purpose Flour - All-purpose flour, cake flour or self raising flour will all work. If you use self raising flour just omit the baking soda and baking powder
Ingredients for the Coffee Buttercream:
This is an unusual kind of buttercream, it's an adaption on a Russian Buttercream, which contains no icing sugar, but instead gets its sweetness from condensed milk. It's silky and delicious - you have to try it!
- Butter - the most critical part of making this frosting is that the butter is at the right temperature. You want it to be room temperature, but not too warm. For best results, remove it from the fridge about 1 hour before starting to make your frosting
- Espresso Powder - this is the same as what you will use for the coffee cupcakes batter
- Vanilla Extract - the vanilla is optional, but adds another layer to the frosting
- Sweetened Condensed Milk - in a lot of cultures, they add condensed milk to coffee, so it seems fitting to use this russian buttercream recipe for these cupcakes!
See recipe card for quantities.
Video
If you'd like to watch a step-by-step guide to making these coffee cupcakes, check out this video:
Can you use real espresso instead of espresso powder?
The first time I recipe tested these coffee cupcakes, I made them with real, fresh espresso instead of the espresso powder. They worked nicely and had a wonderful soft crumb, but the coffee flavour just wasn't coming through as powerfully as I wanted it to.
The espresso powder packs much more of a punch and the flavour comes through better after the batter has been baked. So you could use espresso, but the coffee flavour will be less obvious, and you don't want to add too many espresso shots as the liquid will mess with the consistency of the cupcake batter.
You can find espresso powder in most grocery stores. But if you're having trouble, you can also find it online. This espresso powder is one of the best ones I recommend for baking. I use it in a lot of my recipes, like my Tiramisu Brownie recipe.
Why doesn't the frosting have icing sugar in it?
The coffee buttercream is an adaption of Russian Buttercream. I only recently discovered Russian Buttercream and honestly now I'm a little obsessed!
Classically, it only has two ingredients - butter and sweetened condensed milk, which sounded absolutely mad to me at first. But after playing around with it for a bit I absolutely love both the flavour and texture of this frosting.
Adding the coffee to it just takes it to a whole new level and creates the most delicious, silky smooth, sweet, but not-too-sweet frosting that was just perfect for these coffee cupcakes. You just have to try it to believe it.
The sweetness comes from the condensed milk, and the consistency comes from whipping the butter up until it's thick and silky. So no icing sugar is required. It tastes kind of like a cross between American Buttercream and Italian Meringue Buttercream.
For more info and tips on how to make this frosting, check out my Russian Buttercream post.
Variations
While these are already a winning combination, there are many ways you could enjoy these coffee cupcakes!
- Mocha Cupcakes - If you wanted to make a mocha cupcake instead, you could use my chocolate cake recipe for the batter to make chocolate cupcakes topped with the coffee Russian Buttercream.
- Switch out the Frosting - The coffee batter also works nicely with many different frostings. Try pairing them with Cream Cheese Frosting instead.
- Add a filling - The simplicity of these cupcakes is pretty fantastic, but if you wanted to step it up a notch, you could core out the centre of the cupcake and fill with a coffee flavoured ganache
Recipe
Coffee Cupcakes with Silky Coffee Buttercream
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Coffee Cupcakes
- ½ cup Butter
- ½ cup White Sugar
- ½ cup Golden Sugar (light brown sugar)
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 tablespoon Espresso Powder
- 1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour
- ½ cup Whole Milk
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
For the Coffee Buttercream
- 1 cup Butter room temperature
- 1 can Condensed Milk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Espresso Powder
Instructions
Make the Coffee Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180 °C and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners
- Cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy½ cup Butter, ½ cup White Sugar, ½ cup Golden Sugar
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined1 Egg, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl, then pour half of it into the batter and mix in slowly until completely incorporated1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour, ½ teaspoon Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon Baking Powder, 1 teaspoon Salt
- Dissolve the espresso powder in the milk. Pour into the batter and mix until incorporated½ cup Whole Milk, 2 tablespoon Espresso Powder
- Add the remaining flour and mix until incorporated
- Scoop batter into cupcake liners and bake for 18 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes bounce back when lightly pressed
Make the Coffee Buttercream
- Whip the butter with a stand mixer or hand mixer, on high for 5 minutes. It should be lighter in colour and silky smooth1 cup Butter
- Dissolve the espresso powder in a tiny drizzle of water and pour into the butter along with the vanilla and salt, whip for another minute1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 2 teaspoon Espresso Powder, ½ teaspoon Salt
- Add the condensed milk in gradually, whipping slowly in between additions1 can Condensed Milk
- Once all the condensed milk is added, turn the mixer on high again for 1 minute. Frosting should be silky and should make stiff peaks
- If the frosting splits, try placing it in the fridge for 10 minutes, or add a few tablespoons of icing sugar to thicken it up and bring it back together
- Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, top them with the coffee buttercream. I chose to decorate with chocolate coffee beans, but you could also sprinkle with cocoa powder or just leave them plain
VIDEO
Notes
It really helps and I love hearing all your feedback!
Ali
Hi, I have made this recipe maybe 5 times now and it’s been amazing every time. However, when I make the frosting in a double batch, it becomes soupy. Very strange. I follow the exact same process with room temperature, butter, and with gradually adding the condensed milk and even putting back in the fridge to chill before re-whipping. Any idea why it would become soupy when making a double batch? Everything I tried to stiffen the buttercream has not worked to troubleshoot.
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Ali,
So happy to hear you like the recipe!
The only thing I can think of is maybe the condensed milk being added too quickly? Because there is more of it going in, you might need to add it more gradually, so add a little then whip for a minute and repeat until it is all incorporated. Give that a try next time and I hope it helps! Let me know if it works out!
Jules
nanny paulie
Hi, Frustratingly, I am in the UK so "1 cup" and "1 tin" dont help me!! We go on weights here. Also, your pounds and ounces are different to UK ones.... we have 20 fl oz in a pint and USA has 16fl oz in a pint....
And I cant afford to make stuff wrong then throw it away! HELP!!!
Jules Grasekamp
Hi there,
I totally understand! I actually bake everything with weights too (I'm in Scotland). All my recipes have measurements in both cups and grams. If you click the little toggle at the top of the recipe card from 'Cups' to 'Grams' it will give you all the measurements in grams. Hope this helps! 🙂
Jules
Carol Wood
Is salted or unsalted butter used in the butter cream frosting? Also, is the frosting amount enough to frost the top of a 13X9 inch cake? Thank you for your help.
Jules
Hi Carol,
For buttercream I find it's best to use unsalted butter, that way if you want to add a pinch of salt you can do it to taste and control the saltiness yourself. I do enjoy using salted butter in some recipes, but the amount of salt varies so much from brand to brand that it's often safer to just add the salt yourself and stick with unsalted! Happy baking 🙂
Leslie Decker
I love the taste of these. Have made them for neighborhood parties and they are a huge hit. My question is this, after making them 3 times now, they always fall in the middle even tho cooked fully. Am I doing something wrong (haven't changed the recipe at all)? Any suggestions?
Laura
Mine cupcakes did the same thing. No idea why. I also found the condensed milk frosting to be way too sweet altho I liked the flavor and silky texture.
Imee
Hi, from the Philippines here. As we're in the tropics, should I use chilled condensed milk or room temp one is okay? Thanks
Jules
Hi Imee, That's a great question! I haven't tested any of my recipes in tropical weather to know for sure, but I would think room temperature would still be best. If any of the ingredients are cold at all then the buttercream might curdle.
If you try it at room temperature and the frosting is too soft and soupy, you can put the whole frosting in the fridge (once the butter and condensed milk are properly combined) and let it chill for 15 mins or so before continuing to whip.
Hope this helps!
(P.S. I am actually in the process of writing a blog post all about Russian buttercream and how to troubleshoot it. I am definitely going to include this question in the FAQs - thank you!)
Kristy Braman
Can youbuse regular coffee grounds if so how ?
Jules
Hi Kristy, great question! I definitely wouldn't use coffee grounds, but If you don't have espresso powder you could use instant coffee instead. I'd use 3-4 tsp dissolved in a little splash of water. It won't be quite as strong as the espresso powder but the flavor should still come through 🙂
Melissa
Made these for the first time today, and I gave them to a guy friend of mine for his birthday. We share a love of good coffee. The cupcake part turned out okay, but I think my butter (I used Kerrygold brand) may have sat out a bit too long. I made a MESS trying to make a pretty swirl with the icing.
I have 2 questions.
1, I don't have a stand mixer. Was that possibly part of my problem with the icing?
2, Can you share a source for the chocolate coffee beans that are in the photo? The ones I was able to get locally don't look as cute.
P.S. I just heard from my friend, and he LOVED them!
Chris
These cupcakes are mind blowingly amazing! I love how the coffee flavour comes through while not being overpoweringly strong. 10/10 would eat again!