mocha cupcakes+espresso buttercream

Bit of silence happening over here in case you haven't noticed. I figured the best way to make it up to you was with cupcakes... that you can't eat. But we're ignoring that last part.

I saw the recipe for mocha cupcakes with espresso buttercream over at Brown Eyed Baker and figured, why not? What caught my eye were the words "mocha" and "espresso", something that gets me every time. If I'm ever talking to you and start losing my focus, adding a quick, out of context "ESPRESSO" will immediately snap me back to attention.

Mocha means a combination of chocolate and coffee. These cupcakes definitely do the job with both strong brewed coffee for part of the liquid, and instant espresso powder for an added boost. I felt the balance between the cocoa flavor and the coffee was really good here, and the cupcakes came out very moist and tender.

The frosting is just a basic butter and confectioners' sugar frosting, enhanced yet again with the addition of espresso power and some vanilla extract. What I noticed was that there wasn't any milk in this recipe, so the texture of the frosting remained firm, but still silky in texture.

This recipe makes exactly one dozen cupcakes, so it's perfect if you want a dessert that yields just enough without spending all day in the kitchen decorating and cleaning up. Because that's really not the point of baking, to clean dishes when you should be eating a cupcake.