Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Another Birthday...

Ari is cheering for his Grandpa's birthday today!  It's been a busy few weeks with all the birthdays and this is just one more in the string of family special days that call for baking.

Besides his love for baseball, which has trickled down to Ari, vanilla, non-fat, Lattes are his drink of choice since moving to the Seattle area;)  I thought long and hard how I could replicate that in a cupcake and while driving to the art store to order some mats, it came to me.
I "pumped up" the taste in my vanilla cupcake by adding a soaking of vanilla syrup and then, I made a whipped coffee buttercream.  Since I don't drink coffee (yes, I know I live in Seattle, LOL) I can only go by my husband's reaction..."Best Cupcake I've Ever Had!"

Vanilla Latte Cupcakes

Drunken Irish Cupcakes
Prepared them as directed.  Take them out of the oven and while warm, I poked some holes in the top with a long skewer. then I squirted some Torani Vanilla Syrup on them.  (Torani Vanilla Syrup can be found in the coffee aisle of your grocery store.)  For convenience, I poured the syrup in a plastic squirt bottle.
Let them cool completely.  Start the buttercream.

Coffee Buttercream:

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
5 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp. espresso powder
1 tsp. coffee flavor

In the KitchenAid, using the whisk attachment, whip the butter until fluffy, add three cups of confectioners' sugar and the extract, espresso powder, and coffee flavor and beat to combine.  In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream, using a hand-held mixer, until stiff.  "Be careful," like my mother  would say, "don't beat it until you have butter!"
Fold  into the confectioners' sugar/butter mixture.  Add the remaining 2 cups of confectioners' sugar and whisk until combined.  Fill a piping bag with the buttercream and frost the cupcakes.  Top the cupcakes with a chocolate covered coffee bean.  Enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. Wow!! These look amazing - you know we love our coffee! In my office I have those prints we bought at the market of the first Starbucks and the three majors Seatlle coffee house cups, (Tully's, Seattle's Best, and Starbucks.)

    Happy Birthday to Chuck! I hope he had a wonderful day! Love you. xoxo

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  2. Hello my dear friend.

    A happy birthday to your Chuck~! I feel husbands deserve a good spoil on their Birthdays. What is it about these lovely men that are so important in our lives...That is such a lovely picture with Ari and his grandpa. Susan I had a good look at your corn bread. I just baked one yesterday for our Spring day. Yours looks delicious! I will most definitely try this one.

    I am delighted that it is Spring Susan. And I do know that if it was not for Winter, I would not feel the delights of the Season that follows..I look forward to walking outside with my barefeet..such a simple thing I have missed.

    Sending hugs and lots of love
    love you
    Suzanne

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  3. Happy Days to your Love and to you, special lady.
    Such a gorgeous photo xx

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  4. ari looks incredibly cute in this photo : )
    i am happy to see what you came up with for chuck's birthday, they look amazing!! xoxo

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