Espresso Cupcakes

I know, I know. Not enough recipes coming your way. I have been busy. Promise. We made these delicious cupcakes about a month ago. It was very very late at night and five girls had nothing better to do than try a Nigella Lawson recipe.

These were good and I will definitely be trying them again. I topped the cupcakes with some maltesers instead of coffee beans. Dense chocolate and espresso are a winner together. Want to give it a try? Here’s what you’ll need. 

Makes 12 cupcakes (medium sized):

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup self rising flour, sifted
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp instant espresso
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
2 tbsp milk

For the Icing: 

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp instant espresso
2 tbsp butter

Preheat the oven to 400 F / 190 C.
Cream the butter and add the sugar. Mix in the cooled and melted chocolate. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Stir in the flour, cocoa, and coffee powder and mix just until combined. Stir in the milk.
Divide the batter into a 12-cup muffin pan prepared with paper liners. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 14-18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, combine the butter, espresso powder, and chocolate and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Spread over cooled cupcakes.

Happy Baking! Thank you for reading!