When I mentioned that I was making cupcakes for my husband's birthday party, someone commented that cupcakes are not very manly. How do you make cupcakes manly? Add coffee, whiskey, and mustaches, right? Charles has a thing for whiskey, so I threw a whiskey tasting themed birthday party. But, you can't just serve whiskey at a party (well, you could, but that might get sloppy) so I prepared some of Charles's favorite foods. Per Charles's request I cooked 2 pounds of bacon (random, but a huge hit), arranged spreads of cheese and charcuterie, made artichoke dip and buffalo chicken dip, and an apple crumble with whiskey caramel to drizzle of the top.
Even though Charles prefers apple crumble over cupcakes, I made cupcakes to ensure that we would have plenty of dessert for everyone. Plus, cupcakes make a party a bit more festive. I used a mix to prepare German Chocolate Cupcakes, but I replaced the water the mix called for with strong dark roast Lavazza coffee. Then I topped the cupcakes with a whiskey whipped cream frosting. While the frosting has just 1 shot of whiskey, it does add a strong whiskey flavor to the cupcakes.
Mocha Cupcakes with Bourbon Frosting
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes:
- 1 box German Chocolate Cake Mix
- 3 Eggs as called for on the box of mix
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil as called for on the box of mix
- 1 ¼ cup Coffee to replace the water the box of mix called for
- For the frosting:
- 1 ½ cups Heavy Whipping Cream
- 3-4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 tablespoons Whiskey I used Maker's Mark
Instructions
- Prepare the Cupcakes.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper or foil liners.
- Follow the directions on the box of cake mix and combine the mix, egg, and vegetable oil. Stir to incorporate the ingredients. Add coffee in place of the water called for on the box. Add the hot coffee ½ cup at a time, and stir rapidly to combine.
- Once the batter is ready, fill the cupcake liners until they are ⅔ full.
- Bake the cupcakes according to the directions on the box.
- Make the frosting.
- Pour the cream into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on a medium speed, until the cream forms soft peaks.
- Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, while mixing the frosting on a medium/low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. The goal is for the frosting to be stiff enough to hold it's shape once when the cupcakes are frosted.
- Add the bourbon and mix until combined.
- To assemble:
- Let the cupcakes cool first. This is really important, because warm cupcakes would melt the cream in the frosting making a mess.
- Then fill a pastry bag with a medium closed star decorating tip with frosting. Frost the cupcakes, and top with mustaches if you like. (They are Wilton and available at Target).
Side note: I slid off my table (while seated) onto a chair and severely bruised myself while taking these photos. No one said that food blogging was graceful. And, I'm ok now.
