chocolate cupcakes with mocha buttercream
Today I made cupcakes for my sister-in-law’s engagement party (which was so sweet btw, they are such a gorgeous couple).
The cupcakes themselves were a major let down as they shrunk from the cases sooo much after cooled they were tiny. I need a good chocolate cupcake recipe please. However the stand out was the mocha buttercream/frosting.
Infact Jonno raved about it so much after I forced him to try it he started eating the leftover frosting out of the bowl!! Dangerous stuff. I have a whole bowl in the fridge Im hoping I will frost a cake for my friend Hong with the leftovers.
This is a basic, creamy, sweet but not tooth-achingly sweet buttercream. The espresso majorly cuts the sweetness down and turns this into an adult frosting, although i got major compliments from my 8 year old brother-in-law on them too 
One stick of butter is 113 grams or half a cup or 8 tablespoons. I always have to google for this conversion, it seems americans do butter measurements in sticks. I’d love to see what a “stick” of butter is exactly 
Laura’s Mocha Buttercream
This recipe makes AlOT. Enough for 36 generously frosted cupcakes. Make sure to sift all dry ingredients well before adding.
2 sticks / 16 tablespoons / 226 grams / 1 cup room temperate butter
8 to 10 cups sifted confectioners’ / icing sugar
2/3 to 1 cup sifted unsweetened natural cocoa
1 cup espresso
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat butter until soft and well beaten (preferably in a kitchenaid with the paddle attachment but I wont stop you from doing it in something else). Stop beating and add 2 cups of the icing sugar. Beat until smooth and well incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and paddle. Add all of the remaining ingedients gradually and process or beat until completely smooth and creamy. Add more sugar or coffee if necessary to bring the icing to spreading consistency.
You can make this a day in advance and keep it in the fridge, and bring to room temperature and re-beat it before using.
This is a very palatable smooth frosting and pipes extremely well with the wilton 1M star tip for cute cupcake spirals