My entry for The Gourmet Girl’s and KitchenRap’s Summer 2009 Cupcake Crawl

It’s Tuesday and I’m dragging. For some reason I just couldn’t get myself out of bed. Ever have one of those days? It seems as though they are coming more and more often than I would like. Could it be the exercise? Could it be staying up late? Maybe. I wonder if it’s a mix between the two…

I wanted to get out of this lazy funk so I decided that for the last cupcake of cupcake month I would cruse through the newest addition to my cook book library 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julia Hasson. Which, I must confess is partly responsible for this month’s cupcake theme. The book which I anxiously awaited for is full of recipes and beautiful photography that makes any cupcake fan feel as though they could open up their own cupcake bakery by the end of the week!

I found the recipe for Kahlua Cupckaes and realized that this was the perfect way for me to get out of my lazy funk! Chalk full of caffeine and coffee flavor this cupcake made the perfect afternoon pick me up! (Can’t you tell from all of the exclamation points?) My favorite part of this recipe was that the smell of the kitchen became that of a small coffee house and whisked me away to memories of carefree afternoons. As soon as they cooled off enough for the icing, I piped on the deliciousness and started on my mid afternoon pick me up. I highly suggest that the next time you feel the Tuesday morning drags that you whip up some Kahlua cupcakes for that afternoon pick me up. You’ll be glad you did!

Kahlua Cupcakes-from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julia Hasson

Preheat Over to 350
Line cupcake pans with paper liners

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1/3 cup Kahlua or coffee flavored liqueur
2 tsp instant coffee granules
¾ cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 egg whites
1/3 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt (set aside)
2. In a small bowl, whisk together Kahlua and instant coffee (set aside)
3. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter until light and fluffy
4. Add egg whites one at a time, beating after each addition
5. Alternately beat in the flour mixture, buttermilk and liqueur mixture, making three additions of flour and one each of the buttermilk and liqueur, beat until smooth
6. Scoop batter into prepared cupcake pan (about ¾ of the way full)
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back slightly when touched.
8. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then cool completely on wire racks.
9. Make sure cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting

Coffee Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups confectioners sugar
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp hot coffee
1 tsp Kahlua or coffee-flavored liqueur

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat together butter, sugar and salt until well combined. Increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, beating until frosting is smooth
2. In a small bowl mix together coffee granules, hot coffee and liqueur. Stir until coffee granules are dissolved. Let cool completely
3. Add cooled coffee mixture to butter mixture, beating until smooth, creamy and well mixed. You will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl several times while mixing
4. Spread icing over cooled cupcakes