Coffee Cupcakes, anyone??

As many of you already know, Ryan has started a new business.  It's called Regenerate Neuropathy and Vascular Treatment Centers (yes, this is a shameless plug:  you can find us here:  Regenerate Treatment Center).   Right now we are mostly focused on treating patients with neuropathies of various types, primarily diabetic.  Ok, advertisement over. lol! 

Yesterday was their first official day in the office that they are sharing with an internal medicine practice.  Ryan brought in lunch and did a demo of the treatment he will be using, and I supplied the dessert....cupcakes!!

My original plan was to make 3 different flavors and bring a few of each, but in the end I narrowed it down to 2 flavors, Lemon-Limoncello (I shared the recipe for these last week) and Mochaccino.  Ryan said they were very popular with the staff and there were just a few left over!  Of course, this made me feel very warm and fuzzy on the inside. :-) 

Aren't these cute cupcake boxes?!

I posted photos of the lemon cupcakes last week, and since the ones I made this week were exactly the same, I will just post a picture of the Mochaccino Cupcakes.  They were heavenly, in my opinion, but I am a self-confessed coffee addict.  Even if you don't love coffee, I think you should try these cupcakes sometime...yes, they are that good!

Mochaccino Cupcakes

This is another cupcake that I found in my Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  You can find the recipe here: Mochaccino Cupcakes.   The only change I made to the cake recipe was to use buttermilk instead of regular milk.  Why?  I don't know.  Mostly because all I had besides buttermilk was skim milk, and I don't like to use skim for cake.  And also because I have a couple of other chocolate cake recipes that call for buttermilk.  I also used my favorite buttercream frosting recipe instead of the one Better Homes and Gardens used.

Coffee Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
4ish cups of powdered sugar
tsp vanilla
heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp strong brewed coffee, cooled

Instructions:
In a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening until smooth...about 2-3 minutes. Add the cooled coffee and vanilla and beat for an additional minute.  Gradually beat in the powdered sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, until smooth.  Add whipping cream a tbsp at a time and continue to beat until reaching your desired consistency.

Just FYI...
I used more coffee than the original recipe called for, simply because I like coffee.  If you want less coffee flavor, I would start out with 2 tablespoons and then go from there.  I also piped the frosting onto the cupcakes with a Wilton 4B star tip, and topped them all with a dark chocolate piece (I wanted to use a chocolate covered espresso bean, but sadly, I thought of it too late).

I hope you enjoy these cupcakes.  Let me know...and send pictures!