It doesn’t have to be Valentine’s Day to treat yourself or your loved ones to delicious cupcakes. But I am sure you are looking for any excuse, so I will share this delicious recipe with you! 😉

Chocolate and coffee are well known as a perfect combination. The coffee gives the chocolate that extra rich flavour.

I had originally made these cupcakes for my husband’s birthday last month. He is a coffee and chocolate lover, and anything sweet for that matter. He was definitely super happy to have these on his birthday! 🙂

In this recipe, I am using dark roasted coffee beans, cold brewed using the drip method. This type of coffee is already quite bitter and therefore I am opting for a less bitter chocolate (52% cocoa) to decorate the cupcakes. This will help to bring out the flavours of both the coffee and the chocolate. However, you can opt to use your favourite coffee and chocolate! If you are using a more bitter chocolate, I recommend you add a little bit of sugar to balance the flavours.

The end result is a very moist and super delicious cupcake which I am sure that you (and anyone you share them with) will find it very hard to resist!

For the coffee lovers out there, I know that they will truly love this recipe and will hold on to it. Happy baking! 🙂

Ingredients: (makes 18 cupcakes)

For the cupcakes:

• 115g butter, at room temperature
• 200g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 235g brewed cold coffee
• 210g all purpose flour
• 20g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

For decorating:

• 100g dark chocolate (52% cocoa)
• 2 tbsp brewed cold coffee
• a couple of roasted coffee beans, crushed

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one to ensure it is well combined.
4. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter and sugar, then add half the coffee and repeat finishing with the flour. Mix until just combined. The batter should be quite liquid.
5. Scoop the batter into the cupcake tins and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Leave the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. When the cupcakes are completely cool, melt 50g of the dark chocolate. Once melted, add the remaining 50g of chocolate and stir together. Once all the chocolate is melted, add the cold coffee and mix together to ensure that it is well combined. Dip each cupcake into the melted chocolate and sprinkle some of the crushed coffee beans on top.

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