Food Time: Kahlua Coffee Cupcake with Kahlua Infused Buttercream with Espresso

Alright! I've been promising and promising and promising for new food post and HERE IT IS! *fist in the air* Excuse me while I indulge myself with bread filled with Cookie Butter, Nutella and these fine bits.

Seriously, who doesn't LOVE Trader Joe's? That grinder full of awesomeness is soooo good on top of your cream cheese & toasted bagels. I can have breakfast anytime now. 

Well, tonight I'll be sharing you one of my favorite cupcakes (and a fav for my alcoholic friends... JK), The Kahlua Cupcake!!!

As I whip open my handy dandy recipe book, I realized I need to organize it better. It's so messy, full of flour and powdered sugar, it smells sweet.

got this at borders. oh how i miss that bookstore.

Let's get started! Get your bottle of Kahlua and party on.

Kahlua Coffee Cupcake with Kahlua Infused Buttercream with Espresso

adapted from multiple sources. I combined and recreate it to my own version. Woopah.

Thou shall need:

Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cool
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temp
• 1 3/4 + 3 tbsp cake flour
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (I'm a fan of Van Houten)
• 1 whoopin' tbsp of Espresso powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Hot Coffee (start with 1/4 cup first)

Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. And line your cupcake pans with fun and pretty liners. This makes about 24 cupcakes.

In mixer bowl, with the paddle attachment, mix together butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs until completely combined for about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder & salt in a large bowl.

Alternating flour and buttermilk, add the flours in thirds, beginning and ending with flour, mix in medium - low speed. Scrape the sides and only mix until combined. 

Fold in 1/4 cup of the hot coffee and mix until combined.

Fill in the liners 3/4 full and bake for 18 minutes.

Let them cool in the pans for 5 minutes then transfer those lovelies to a wire rack for about another 5 - 10 minutes.

While still warm, poke holes onto the cupcakes with a toothpick and using a brush, smother those babies with Kahlua, 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 times. Haha. A friend of mine actually told me I should just soaked them in Kahlua. Then let them cool completely and they should be ready to get frosted.

Frosting

• 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temp
• 3 - 5 cups of powdered sugar, sifted (I usually end up using 4 cups)
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1 tsp Kahlua (in my case, I substituted the Vanilla with an extra teaspoon of Kahlua. Yay)
• 1 tsp Hot Coffee (or, if you really love Kahlua, opt this out and add another teaspoon of Kahlua)
• 1 tbsp of instant coffee granules/espresso powder

In a mixer bowl, whip the butter until light and fluffy. One cup at a time, add the powdered sugar. Scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition & mixing until combined. Between the addition of sugar, alternate between adding the Kahlua, coffee and Vanilla (or the full 3 tsp Kahlua haha). Then mix in the coffee granules/espresso powder and whip for about another 2 - 3 minutes. If you notice your frosting is pretty thin, you may add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar at a time until you find the consistency you like. 

You may chill the frosting in the fridge until you're ready to use. Whip for a minute or two, and frost away. 

I usually garnish it with chocolate covered espresso beans, BUT that Trader Joe's Grinder above would be perfect as well.

Let's me know if any of you decided to make this. I would love some feedback :)

moonbeams & bunny kisses,

Food Time: Vietnamese Iced Coffee

drink me!!

This is one of my weakness: Ice Cold Coffee. Some of my friends think coffee with ice is weird (ok you hardcore coffee drinkers!), but I LOVE me some chilly coffee. Every time I go to a Pho restaurant, I have to refrain myself from getting this delish beverage. Why? Because the coffee taste is strong and it's all full of SUGAR. But, hey... I love sugar. Haha. Making this fine thing is sooo easy, I can drink these instead of water at home (oh uh, not good).

All you need is:

• A Coffee Filter (in my case, I use a French Press by Bodum)
• 2/3 Cup of Boiling Water (if you don't want your coffee to be too strong, you can make it 1 cup of water)
• A Glass of Ice
• 2 tbsp of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tbsp of dark-roast ground coffee (preferred those Vietnamese Coffee, such as Trung Nguyen or Cafe Du Monde Coffee --> the Yellow Can!)

First, you steep the coffee in the boiling water in a heatproof container (in my case, the French Press) and let it sit for 4 minutes. Pour coffee through filter (or press your French Press. Yay) in to a heatproof glass. Then stir in Condensed Milk until blended. Don't drink it like this. Why? It's HELLA sweet. Then, add your Ice and ENJOY. 

I decided to pour it in to a glass jar and sip it through a neon straw. I don't have those cute stripey straws (yet). 

i believe this is the knock-off of Cafe Du Monde, but it did its justice

I drank it in less than 3 minutes. It was that good. I think anything with condensed milk deserves a standing ovation.

moonbeams & bunny kisses,