Mocha cupcakes

Recently I've been baking for different occasions/people, but then I forget to post it... Well, I certainly don't want to forget this recipe!
The "making" of this recipe started back last summer, when I was really supposed to come up with a chocolate/coffee cupcake combo for my brother-in-law (officially now!) for his birthday. I didn't get his treat made last year, so I promised him I would definitely make it this year.
So here is the promised cupcakes, and they turned out very well!!! The cupcake base is the famous Hershey's chocolate cake recipe, but I substituted the boiling water for hot coffee. All in all, it was birthday boy approved!

Mocha Cupcake
~Makes 24-30 cupcakes~

Ingredients:
-2 cups sugar
-1 and 3/4 cup AP flour
-3/4 cup cocoa powder 
-1.5 tsp baking powder
-1.5 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp salt
-2 eggs
-1 cup milk, room temperature
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-1 cup (very hot/boiling) brewed coffee

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two dozen-cupcake tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
Combine all dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) in a separate bowl by sifting and whisking it all together.
In a stand-up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla until well incorporated. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Stir in coffee (batter will be thin, that's ok!) and mix well until batter is even.
Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full and bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until inserted tester (usually toothpick) comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature before next steps.

Mocha Ganache

Ingredients:
4oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (or you could do 8oz total of just bittersweet chocolate)
1 cups plus 2 Tbsp of heavy cream
1- Tbsp instant coffee granules
Optional: 1 Tbsp coffee licquour (like Kahlua) -- if not adding this, add another 1/2 Tbsp of instant coffee granules. 

Directions:
Place chopped chocolate and instant coffee granules into a heat-proof medium bowl. Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and pour over chopped chocolate. Let stand for about 2 minutes (this step is important! Don't touch it at ALL for 2 whole minutes!)
With a whisk, gently stir the chocolate with the cream in small circles. Once chocolate is smooth, start adding 

Espresso Buttercream Frosting
Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups powdered sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons espresso powder

Directions:
1. Mix the espresso powder into the vanilla until dissolved; set aside.
2. Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar a little at a time, waiting until it is mostly incorporated before adding more. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy, about a minute or two. Add the espresso and vanilla mixture and continue to mix at medium-high until it is completely incorporated, scraping the sides as necessary.

Adapted recipes:
Chocolate cupcakes from Hershey's
Mocha Ganache from Annie's Eats
Espresso Buttercream Frosting from Brown Eyed Baker

Chocolate Mocha Cake Roll

Howdy! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. We sure did here; although we have been trying to finish leftovers by getting a little creative with the remaining dishes (there is only so much you can do with leftover turkey, or stuffing, or gravy!). But hey, I cannot complain about extra good food.

Anyways, this weekend was my daughter’s babysitter’s birthday, and I wanted to make her something special. I got the idea to make her a cake roll. To add on to the challenge, I’ve never made cake rolls! Sounds easy, but the whole idea of making a very thin cake that you then have to roll WITHOUT breaking was truthfully a little daunting… But oh well, I thought “let’s give it a whirl!” So a whirl I gave (grammar???), and it turned out great (it rhymed!)

The cake turned out wonderfully light and fluffy, and separated from the baking sheet well. I did put lots of powdered sugar on the towel so that the cake did not stick to the towel, even after it cooled down. The filling is very simple to make, but has a great mocha flavor that adds an extra layer of flavor to the cake, complementing the chocolate cake very nicely.

The original recipe does have another step to make this cake roll into an actual Yule log, which I plan on making for Christmas this year (now that I am a little more confident about cake rolls). So for any of you interested in making the frosting, I have included the recipe below. If you do that final step, let me know how it turns out! I’ll add my comments next time I make this J

Happy birthday Karen!

Chocolate Mocha Cake Roll

Ingredients

CAKE:

5 eggs, separated

½ + ½ cup sugar, divided

½ cup cake flour

¼ cup baking cocoa

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp cream of tartar

Confectioner’s sugar, for spreading on towel

MOCHA CREAM FILLING:

1 cup whipping cream

½ cup confectioners' sugar

1 ½ tsp instant coffee granules

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, and salt; set aside. Line a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with parchment paper; grease the paper.

2.    Place egg whites in a small mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

3.    In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks on high until light and fluffy. Gradually add ½ cup sugar, beating until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually add flour mixture to egg yolk mixture until blended.

4.    In the separate bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy. Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar, beating on high until stiff peaks form. Stir a fourth into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining egg whites until no streaks remain.

5.    Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-13 minutes or until cake springs back (do not over-bake). Cool for 5 minutes; invert onto a linen towel dusted with confectioners' sugar. Peel off parchment paper. Roll up in the towel, starting with a short side. Cool completely on a wire rack.

6.    For the filling, in a separate mixing bowl, beat whipping cream until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and coffee granules. Beat until stiff peaks form; chill. Unroll cooled cake; spread filling to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up again. Place on serving platter; chill.

Optional step:

MOCHA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup baking cocoa

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon brewed coffee

2 tablespoons milk

In a mixing bowl, beat frosting ingredients until smooth. Frost cake. Using a fork, make lines resembling tree bark.

Original recipe for Chocolate Yule Log from Taste of Home