Mocha Cupcakes

I should have changed the chapter title a while ago.  Seems like I'm making a cake a week.  Part of it is to use the cake flour, but I'm also enjoying the challenge of creating recipes in a field I don't know well, rather than blindly following a cookbook.

While researching various recipes for mocha cakes, I found the common complaint that you couldn't taste the coffee.  I have the same issue with many hot mocha drinks.  The flavor should be mostly coffee, with the chocolate as an enhancement.

This recipe started in the Afternoon Tea book as a coffee-flavored cake.  Then I added as little cocoa powder as I thought you could taste.  I also experimented with flavoring the icing.  Basically, in both the cake and icing recipes, coffee replaces the milk.  You lose the fat content of milk, but get flavor in return.

Cake
*2 C cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
3 Tb cocoa powder
3/4 C butter
3/4 C sugar
3 eggs
3/4 C strongly brewed coffee

1.  Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder.

2.  Cream together butter and sugar.  Preheat oven to 350º and line two muffin pans.  (Recipe also makes one slightly anemic 8" layer cake.)

3.  Beat eggs into butter mix.  Beat in coffee and flour in two or three stages.  Beat batter for 2 minutes.

4.  Fill lined muffin cups 2/3 full of batter.  Bake for about 20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes to wire rack to cool completely.


Icing
1/4 C butter (not margarine)
1/4 C shortening
3 C powdered sugar
several tablespoons of coffee

1.  Cream together butter and shortening.

2.  Gradually beat in powdered sugar.  Add enough coffee to make the icing easy to spread.  It should have a faint, not overpowering, coffee aroma.

3.  Decorate cooled cupcakes.

Makes about 18 cupcakes

Difficulty rating  :)