Mocha Coffee Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Icing

"A cake for all is not a celebration of one. Cupcakes are the ultimate birthday cake."~Jarod Kintz

"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons."

~T. S. Eliot

My daughter, the middle child, was very adamant about one detail for her third birthday party: pink cupcakes. For six months she would point out things that were pink and declare that that was the proper pink for her cupcakes or she would exclaim that a particular cupcake - in a store or bakery - would be perfect if it were only pink. And she worried over it. She thought that somehow I would forget this important detail, that I would make her fruit cake or bran muffins or something not pink. 

Of course I made her pink cupcakes. Strawberry cupcakes. Very pink strawberry cupcakes. With ice-white frosting and pink sugar sprinkles. And they were good. Damn good.

But this post is not about those pink cupcakes.

This post is about cupcakes inspired by the pink cupcakes.

I have flirted with the idea of coffee frosting for quite sometime. It was something that had an abstract appeal, but an idea I never pursued. For some reason the baking of 48 pink cupcakes took that abstract thought and made me want to make it a reality. Not only would I make coffee icing but I would make coffee cupcakes. (I have no idea why baking a bunch of cupcakes made me want to make more cupcakes, but there you go...)

It was not an easy task.

I didn't want just a coffee-flavoured spread on top of a regular yellow cupcake. No. The whole experience needed to be coffeesque. From creamy top to fluffy, delicate bottom I wanted these to be all about the coffee. But in a balanced way.

My first try was a disaster. I ended up with misshapen brownie-textured muffins that fused to the pan. Tasty though.

My second try was a bit better. The cakes rose beautifully, turned a gorgeous brown, and proceeded to collapse in on themselves like some dying star. I could fill the black hole cakes with something and call them dessert cups. But they were worthless as cupcakes.

Third times a charm they say.

I abandoned my usual cupcake stock recipe and I went chiffon.

If you are unfamiliar with a chiffon cake they differ from a traditional cake by replacing butter with vegetable oil. Of course it is impossible to beat enough air into oil to achieve the lightness of butter so, like a foam cake, beaten egg whites are folded into the batter to give the cake a soft, fluffy texture. The high oil and egg content makes for a very moist cake that does not harden or dry out as much as traditional butter cakes.

The results were amazing.

Mocha Coffee Cupcakes

4 oz cake flour*

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup hot water

1 1/4 -ounce cocoa powder

1 1/2 Tbs instant coffee powder

5 large eggs

6 oz sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat your oven to 325º F and line 24 muffin tins with paper liners.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a small bowl combine the hot water, cocoa powder, and instant coffee. Whisk to thoroughly combine.

Separate your eggs and put the egg yolks and five ounces of the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer.

Whisk on high until the mixture becomes pale yellow, about two minutes. 

Add the cocoa mixture, vegetable oil and vanilla and mix. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and whisk just to combine.

Set this coffee-chocolaty goodness aside.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar into a clean bowl and whisk on high until it becomes foamy. Decrease the speed to low and slowly add the remaining ounce of sugar. Once it's all combined, increase the speed back to high and continue to beat until stiff peaks form, approximately two minutes.

Take about a third of the egg whites and add it to the chocolate batter, whisking it until well combined. 

Add another third of the egg whites and mix gently but completely. 

Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold them into the batter. (It's OK if there are white streaks in your batter. This is preferable to over-mixing the egg whites.)

You should have a super cream, fluffy batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups.

This task is made infinitely easier if you have a variety of sizes of dishers. They make almost any batter task easier and less messy.

Place the filled muffin tins on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

*Cake flour is important in when making a chiffon. But you probably don't have any on hand. No worries, it is easy enough to make a substitute. All you need is all-purpose flour and cornstarch.

Take one cup of all-purpose flour and remove two tablespoons. Take two tablespoons of cornstarch and add it to the all-purpose flour. Now sift it. And sift it again. And again. And again. And one more time. You have to make certain that the flour and corn starch are mixed together thoroughly and sifting it five times will help do just that.

Coffee Buttercream Icing

6 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

2 oz shortening

1 whole egg, room temperature

1 lb confectioners' sugar

1 Tbs milk, room temperature

1 Tbs instant coffee powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small bowl combine the vanilla, milk and coffee powder. Set aside. Put the butter and shortening into the bowl of a stand mixer and, using the paddle attachment, cream on high until light and fluffy, approximately 4 minutes. Add the egg and beat until well combined, approximately 1 minute. Turn off the mixer and add 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar. Mix on low - unless you like powdered sugar all over your kitchen - until combined. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Repeat, adding powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, until all of it has been combined. Add the vanilla-coffee mixture and continue to beat until the icing is light and smooth, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.

If the icing is too thick you can add milk, a teaspoon at a time, to relax it a bit. If it is too liquid you can add more powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time, to thicken it.

Now you get to ice your cupcakes.

I used a icing bag, but icing the cupcakes with an icing spatula will work just as well.

I added some sprinkles by putting some coffee beans and cocoa nibs in a hand mill and grinding them over the iced cupcakes.

These cupcakes are very light and delicate and full of flavour. The coffee-falvour is very evident, but not over-powering and these pair well with coffee (Go figure!) or tea.

Enjoy! And if you give these a try let me know how they turned out.

Oatmeal Brûlée

"...now and then a giggling trail of mermaids appeared in our wake. We fed them oatmeal."― Tove Jansson, Moominpappa's Memoirs

Oatmeal is simple. Sometimes too simple to give it much notice.

However simple, there is a lot to like about oatmeal. There's the beta-glucan. And the complex carbohydrates and water-soluble fibre. Loads of B vitamins. Our very own FDA has said it is A-Okay for companies selling oatmeal to claim that it may reduce the risk of heart disease when combined with a low-fat diet. Loaded with more calories than most other types of porridge, oatmeal also encourages slow digestion and stabilizes blood-glucose levels.

And it tastes pretty darn good. 

Oh, oatmeal and oats have detractors, certainly.

Samuel Johnson was no fan. In his dictionary definition for oats he wrote: "A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people."

In response, Lord Elibank retorted, "Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?"

Touché, Mr. Murray. Touché.

The simple, underrated, and oft-unappreciated oatmeal can be a bit more gourmet with just a scant bit of effort. It's easy, with just a little nudge, to give it a bit more je ne sais quoi.

And why not?

If you are going to make oatmeal you might as well go fancy. And so here, for your enjoyment and epicurean enlightenment, is the deceptively easy Oatmeal Brûlée. No blowtorch required.

(If you feel so inclined and want to impress, you can certainly call this Flocons D'avoine Brûlée. But keep in mind that's just fancy-speak for Burnt Oat Flakes. Sometimes less is more.)

Oatmeal Brûlée
1½ Cups water

1 Cup milk
1½ Cup oatmeal (either Old Fashioned or quick cooking)

1 large egg
3 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 Cup heavy cream
Fruit for topping (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)
Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350º F. Generously butter four small ramekins.

In a medium sauce pan, bring the water and milk and one tablespoon of the brown sugar to boil. Add the oatmeal and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook oatmeal for approximately five minutes until desired texture is reached.

While the oatmeal is cooking, mix the egg with the remaining two tablespoons of brown sugar and the cream. Beat well with a whisk.

When the oatmeal is cooked, spoon equal amounts into each of the prepared dishes, leaving enough room to add the egg mixture on top of each.

Top off each ramekin with the prepared egg mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the top of each dish with powdered sugar. Continue to bake for 15 minutes more or until liquid is set and the top is slightly browned. 

Garnish with fruit of your choice and dust with more powdered sugar.

Serve warm.

Bon Appétit.

Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie

"The natural term of an apple-pie is but twelve hours. It reaches its highest state about one hour after it comes from the oven, and just before its natural heat has quite departed. But every hour afterward is a declension. And after it is one day old, it is thence-forward but the ghastly corpse of apple-pie."
~Henry Ward Beecher

We had guests coming over for dinner. The dinner part was easy, pork ribs. Lots of them. Smothered in a spicy sauce. But I also wanted to make a dessert. I have this nostalgic feeling about summer fare and apple pie, even though I don't particularly like apple pie. But I figured the pie would go well with the ribs. So I bought apples. Gorgeous, golden-green apples.

And then the doubt set in.

Should I really make something I don't like?

Maybe not.

I like cinnamon rolls. A lot. One of my favourite desserts. 

I decided I would make cinnamon rolls.

And again, the doubt set in.

Is it lame to make a dessert like cinnamon rolls - a very breakfast-esque pastry - to follow up a hearty meal like ribs?

Maybe.

So what to do..?

The thing I do not like about apple pie, and pies in general, is the crust. I am just not a fan of pie crust. I feel that the best pie crust, as flaky and tender as can be imagined, is still too...something. It is not a something I can readily put my finger on. But I don't enjoy it. I usually end up eating the filling and leaving behind a hollow shell. Like the corpse of a Tauntaun. Yes, I think it is that gross.

I do love cinnamon rolls though. So...why not do the You-Got-Your-Apple-Pie-In-My-Cinnamon-Rolls thing? No reason not to try.

I was uncertain what the outcome would be with this. I'm certain someone somewhere has done this before, but I like my kitchen experiments to be mine and so did not go searching for already-done recipes. I just combined my cinnamon roll recipe and my apple pie recipe and crossed my fingers. I think it turned out fabulous.

Cinnamon Rolls

2 to 2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup milk
1/8 cup sugar
1/8 cup butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon

In a large bowl combine 3/4 cup of the flour and the yeast. Heat the milk, granulated sugar, the 1/8 cup butter and salt just until mixture is warm (about 120º to 130º degrees) and the butter is almost melted, stirring constantly.

Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture. Add the egg. Beat with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds, scraping the sides of bowl. Beat on high for another 3 minutes. Using a spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can to make a very soft dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape the dough into a ball.

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours).

Punch the dough down and shape into a smooth ball. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll the dough into a rectangle 12-inches by 8-inches. 

Spread with 3 Tbsp softened butter. Combine the brown sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle it over the rectangle.

Roll the rectangle up from a short side. Seal the long edge.

Start slicing the dough roll into 1/2-inch pieces. As you cut each slice, place it in the greased pie pan, squashing the roll flat, arranging them first along the edges and then to fill in at the bottom of the pan.

You want to make certain you leave enough of the roll to make a top for the pie as well.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Apple Filling
1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt

8 cups sliced, cored and peeled tart apples (8 medium)

2 Tbsp butter

In large bowl, mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir in apples until well mixed.

Spoon into the cinnamon roll-lined pie pan. Cut the butter into small pieces and sprinkle over filling.

Take the remaining cinnamon roll roll and continue slicing it into 1/2-inch thick slices. Squash the slices flat and start forming the crust on top of the apple filling, placing them close together to form a solid shell.

(The pie bird is not necessary, but if you've got one, by all means use it; they are beautiful and will vent steam from the filling lowering the chance of filling boil-over.)

Cover the pie with foil to prevent excessive browning. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. 

Serve warm.

And enjoy!

And in case you were curious, the pie was a hit at dinner. The guests loved it.