Yellow Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

Happy June everybody!! The sun is shining through the trees leaving me in a dappled sunlight and good spirits (for the most part) this June morning. Yesterday I was looking to make something to take to a Memorial Day shindig and so I feel back on cupcakes...because that is my go-to dessert. Who doesn't love a cupcake? (I mean...there are people, I don't think I care much about them...)

Now, I've never been a big fan of yellow cupcakes. They often are dry and tasteless. They are actually quite easy to over-mix (a problem I had yesterday). But this recipe (despite my over mixing) had a wonderful buttery taste with a hint of delicious vanilla.

I must admit that I had an ulterior motive for trying this particular recipe yesterday. I wanted to find a good base for my tea experiments and I think this cupcake will be perfect for flavoring with my infused butter concoctions that I will be creating.

The coffee buttercream comes from my favorite frosting recipe, which is extremely versatile. This time around it did not disappoint!! It actually goes quite well with this delicate, buttery cupcake.

So, if you need something quick and a little simple go ahead and take a batch of these in. I promise, they are not your average yellow cupcake.

Easy Yellow Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting
adapted from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 18 - 22 minutes
Total Time: about 45 minutes, plus cooling
Yields: 24 medium-sized cupcakes

Ingredients (Cupcakes)

• 3 cups of cake flour (If you don't have cake flour handy, replace 1 cup cake flour with 7/8 cup all-purpose flour and 2 TBS cornstarch)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 12 TBS (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted & cooled
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Ingredients (Frosting):

• 2 TBS heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 TBS instant espresso (or 4 tsp instant coffee)
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the sugar until combined. Whisk in the melted butter in three additions, until completely combined. Whisk in the buttermilk.
4. Sift one third of the flour mixture over the batter and whisk it in (there should still be a few streaks of flour remaining). Repeat twice with the remaining flour mixture and continue to whisk the batter gently until most of the lumps are gone. DO NOT OVER MIX.
   
5. Fill the cupcake liners about two-thirds full. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out with a few crumbs attached, 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
6. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from the pans and let cool completely on the racks before frosting, about 1 hour.

MEANWHILE ... make the frosting while the cupcakes cool:

1. Stir the cream, vanilla, salt & coffee or espresso together in a small bowl until the salt dissolves.
2. Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, 30 to 60 seconds.
3. Reduce the speed to medium-low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar, and beat until smooth, 2 to 5 minutes.
4. Beat in the cream mixture. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, 4 to 8 minutes.

Enjoy!!