Hot Coffee Chocolate Cupcakes

This ultimate chocolate cupcakes are so good that you have to make a double batch of this recipe. In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda then whisk them up. Onto the floured bowl, you will sift in high-quality cocoa powder and whisk everything up then set that aside. This recipe calls for buttermilk and for the wet ingredients, you will add buttermilk into a large bowl then into that you will add two large eggs, a quarter cup of sour cream or yogurt and oil.

You will also need a quarter cup of warm coffee which will warm the mixture a little bit and released the flavor of the cocoa. Using a wire whisk, whisk the wet ingredients so well until they are homogenous then add the wet in the dry. This can be done on a stand mixer with the paddle attachment of you can do it by hand.

This batter will be very wet so don’t be scared or try to add more flour to it, mix it up until there are no lumps and you have a nice drizzly batter. Line the cupcakes tins with the liners then fill them with the batter. The key is not to fill them, they should be about a quarter full because they will rise and fill the cupcakes tins. Bake them in 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 25 minutes. For the swiss meringue buttercream, you will need 5 egg whites, separate the whites and yolks into a bowl then to the egg whites, add granulated white sugar, give it a stir until its well mixed, and the sugar is melted in the egg whites mixture.

Put it over a pot of simmering water making sure the water does not touch the bowl and you will be whisking this the whole time. Pour the warm egg mixture in a stand mixer bowl and mix it on high speed for about ten minutes or so until it comes to room temperature. Into a bowl, add in bittersweet chocolate, and place it on the double boiler to melt.

Add room temperature butter to the swiss meringue while beating on low speed then start adding the cooled melted chocolate and let everything come together. Transfer then chocolate meringue mixture into a piping bag and start dolloping the buttercream on the cooled baked cupcakes.

Ingredients;

For the Cupcakes:

• ¼ cup (60g) sour cream room temperature
• ½ cup (120mL) buttermilk room temperature
• 2 medium eggs
• ⅓ cup (80mL) veggie oil
• ¼ cup (60mL) hot coffee
• 2 tsp (10mL) vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups (180g) all-purpose flour
• 1 ⅓ cup (265g) granulated sugar
• ¼ cup (20g) cocoa powder
• 1 tsp (6g) baking soda
• ½ tsp (2.5g) kosher salt

For the Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

• 5 egg whites room temp
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 lb ( 450g) unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 tsp (mL) vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled

Instructions;

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat to 350F. Add papers to a cupcake tin.
2. Sift the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.
3. Add the sour cream, buttermilk, eggs, and veggie oil into a large bowl and whisk together. Pour the hot coffee in while you whisk and set aside.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
5. Whisk until smooth and combined.
6. Distribute batter evenly into the cupcake papers and bake for about 15 -20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, allow cooling.

For the Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

1. Add egg whites, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Give the mixture a brief whisk.
2. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Make sure the water does not touch the bowl. Whisk the egg whites occasionally while it warms up. When the mixture has warmed, whisk it constantly. You will heat the mixture until it reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF or until it’s not grainy between your fingers.
3. Transfer the bowl to a stand mixer, mix with a whisk attachment until you get room temperature glossy peaks.
4. Switch to a paddle attachment and while the mixture is running on low, add tablespoon-sized dollops of room temperature butter making sure to let the butter incorporate before you add the next piece. Once all the butter is incorporated, go ahead and add the vanilla extract.
5. Drizzle in the melted and cooled chocolate while the mixer is running on low. Scrape the bowl down and mix it again. You can now transfer it to a piping bag or to a ziplock bag to store in the freezer.

For the Assembly:

1. Use a large star tip to pipe a swirl of buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes. Start at the center, squeeze and lift the tip while rotating the cupcake back and forth. Stop squeezing the piping bag while you continue to lift for a nice tip to the dollop.