Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes

Sometimes, a celebration just needs chocolate. When I bake for the birthdays at work, I’m often bringing something to celebrate multiple birthdays. I made a lovely citrus cake to celebrate, but it was on the small side and I figured I should make something to go with the cake. And for some people, it just isn’t a celebration without chocolate so I thought I would bring some chocolate cupcakes: chocolate Kahlua cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcakes can be tricky, so many of them are quite dry and not very chocolaty. You never know until you bake them up, but I really lucked out with this recipe. The batter is so easy that you don’t even need to use your mixer. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the liquid ingredients in another and then stir them together. The batter is quite thin, but don’t worry. Just be sure that you fill the cupcake lines 2/3 full or less. This batter rises like crazy while baking!

The frosting on these is fabulous: a little bit chocolate, a little bit Nutella, a little bit Kahlua. I would use this frosting on other cakes as it was so great. I don’t think that the Kahlua flavor of these cupcakes is very strong; they really taste like the best chocolate cupcake you’ve ever had, with a slight flavor of Nutella. These were such a hit at work!

Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes

1-1/2 cups flour

1-1/2 cups sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup hot coffee

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons Kahlua

1 cup butter, room temperature

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon Kahlua

3/4 cup chocolate chips, melted and slightly cooled

1/4 cup Nutella

Chocolate sauce, for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup cupcake pans with paper liners. You’ll need about 18 liners.

Make the cupcakes: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and salt. In a separate bowl combine the buttermilk, hot coffee, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and Kahlua. Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well for a couple minutes until combined. The batter will be thin and runny.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3. These cupcakes rise a lot so don’t fill them any more than 2/3 full. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with very few crumbs and the top of the cupcake springs back when touched. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Make the frosting: In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and powdered sugar and mix on medium until light, about 4 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and Kahlua; mix until incorporated. Add the cooled chocolate and the Nutella and beat on medium until well combined, about 3 minutes. (If the frosting is too soft, add more powdered sugar, if too stiff, add heavy cream or milk.)

Pipe the frosting on to the cooled cupcakes. Drizzle with chocolate sauce for decoration.

Recipe from Savor Good Food