These beauties made an appearance at a cook out over the weekend. The advantage of making marble cupcakes is that you don’t need to make that tough choice between vanilla and chocolate. A scoop of vanilla batter, followed by a scoop of chocolate, a figure eight swirl with a butter knife and voila! What I want to talk about today, is the crowning glory of these cupcakes – a mocha buttercream frosting! I just love the combination of chocolate and coffee, it’s the perfect accompaniment to the marble cupcakes!
• 1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 sticks of butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons baking cocoa
• 2 1/2 cups confectionery sugar
1. Dissolve the espresso powder in the vanilla. Add the butter and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy.
2. Sift the baking cocoa and confectionery sugar, and add to the butter mixture in batches.
3. If the frosting seems too thick, you can thin it out with a few tablespoons of strong coffee.
