My first Iron Cupcake ~ Double-Shot Espresso Brown Butter Cupcakes!

I’ve been thinking about doing an Iron Cupcake challenge for awhile now, and I couldn’t resist this month’s flavor, coffee. I can’t promise something every month especially since I’m not exactly great at following someone else’s recipes, let alone tinkering with my own. Despite that fact I think I created a yummy little cupcake, if I may say so myself.

Some of you may be asking, “What praytell is an ‘Iron Cupcake’?” Well, it is a challenge in which, “bakers from anywhere, all over the world, to take place in the ultimate flavor challenge and promote world peace, one cupcake at a time.” The way it works is there’s a flavor picked every month and you take that flavor as your inspiration to create culinary bliss inside your mouth through the medium of…a cupcake. But wait there’s more! You can win stuff too! Here’s the booty:

Our February ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
* something to warm your cupcake heart by DIANA EVANS
* as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES.
* PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice – sweet!
As an added bonus for February, SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY will be tossing in a variety of cupcaking supplies.
Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, JESSIE STEELE APRONS, TASTE OF HOME books, a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers. All voting in the Iron Cupcake challenge takes place at No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner. Voting ends March 6th.

When I contemplated attempting this challenge, I concluded that a cupcake template would be required. I don’t have the first clue as to how much baking powder versus soda versus what-the-heck-ever is require to create a tasty cake, so some kind of blueprint was in order. I searched every book in my house to no avail. Thank God for the internet! I must give a tip of the hat to vanilla sugar for her Cinnamon Espresso Cake. While I changed the recipe quite a bit, it was from her foundation that I was able to include one of my favorite ingredients….brown butter!

I apologize for not being more diligent in taking note of how long these suckers took to be baked, but just give it ten minutes, rotate the pan, another ten, then start checking with a toothpick to see if they’re done every five minutes or so.

One thing I was happy to find in The Cake Book by Tish Boyle (FAB book!) was a recipe for caramel espresso buttercream frosting. The only think I changed there was I halved the recipe, except for the amount of espresso. After trying this experiment, I suggest you use half the amount (so just follow the recipe I include here as written). Tish had it right and the extra espresso was a bit too overpowering when it was atop a double-shot cupcake.

The cupcake alone was fantastic. Without the frosting, the brown butter flavor really came through and was balanced by the coffee. The addition of the frosting made the coffee flavor a bit too overpowering for me, so next time I’ll either follow Tish’s recipe exactly or maybe even choose a different flavor of frosting. If you are a freak for coffee flavor then you will lose your mind over these. My Mom, a freak for coffee, was raving.

Double-Shot Espresso Brown Butter Cupcakes:

1   3/4 cup cake flour
2   tsp baking powder
1   1/3 cup sugar
3/4   cup half and half
2   eggs
2   tablespoons instant espresso
1/8   tsp kosher salt
1   tsp vanilla
9   tablespoons butter (browned)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line your cupcake pan with liners.

Brown the butter: In a small saucepan heat butter over medium high heat til completely melted, all the while swirling the pan. Lower the heat to around medium and keep swirling the pan until the milk solids turn a reddish brown color. You should also be able to smell a nutty aroma from the butter. This process may take about ten minutes. Don’t forget to keep swirling the pan. Once the butter has browned, strain through a cheesecloth or extremely fine sieve. I go into more detail about my success and failure with browned butter in this post.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and espresso powder.

In a separate bowl whisk the half & half, eggs, and vanilla.

Whisk the egg mixture into the flour until almost combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the browned butter until the batter is smooth and all the butter has been incorporated.

Scoop batter into cupcake liners. I had enough for exactly twelve cupcakes, with a bit lick from the bowl left over.

Now here comes the tricky part. Unfortunately I wasn’t as vigilant about the amount of time I left these suckers in the oven. I believe they only took about twenty minutes, maybe twenty five. One way or another, in my oven I have to rotate the pan approximately halfway through baking otherwise I won’t have an evenly baked product. I would advise you to do the same.

I know I baked them for ten minutes and rotated. Then after another ten (maybe fifteen?) minutes I started checking to see if they were done. You’re looking for a toothpick to come out clean

Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Caramel Espresso Buttercream:

(Again, this recipe can be found in The Cake Book by Tish Boyle. I halved the recipe because I just didn’t need five cups of buttercream. You should have more than enough to ice the twelve cupcakes.)

1/2   cup plus 2 tablespoons of firmly packed dark brown sugar (I used light brown, because I’m not crazy about molasses)
1/2   cup plus 2 tablespoons of heavy cream
1/4   cup light corn syrup
1/8   teaspoon salt
2   large eggs
2   sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened
1   teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2   tablespoon espresso powder, dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, heavy cream, corn syrup and salt to cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring and increase the heat to high.

Meanwhile in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with te whisk attachment, begin beating the eggs at medium speed. When the sugar syrup reaches 225ºF on a candy thermometer, increase the speed of the mixer to high. Continue to cook the sugar syrup until it reaches 238ºF.

Remove the pan from the heat and with the mixer off, immediately pour about 1/4 cup of the hot syrup over the beaten eggs. Beat at high speed until blended, about 10 seconds. Turn the mixer off and add another 1/4 cup syrup. Beat at high speed for another 10 seconds. Repeat this process until all the syrup is used. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat at medium high speed until the egg mixture is completely cool, about 5 minutes. When you touch the mixing bowl, it should be cold.

At medium speed, beat in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add the vanilla extract and coffee mixture, increase the speed to medium high and beat the buttercream until it is smooth and shiny, about 4 minutes.

The buttercream can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 6 hours, or refrigerate for up to a week; bring to room temperature before using.

Tagged as: Brown Butter, Buttercream, Espresso, Recipe!