I was initially inspired by these tiny figures, commuters dressed in gray suits and with briefcase in hand. I knew there was a cupcake out there for them. And then a reader emailed me for a moist chocolate cupcake recipe and I recalled my grandma's Devil's food cake which included a strong cup of coffee with rich buttermilk. Just what the Urban Professional ordered!
The recipe starts with sifting the dry ingredients into a mountain of flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
Then adding in the buttermilk and oil and a cup of Peet's Major Dickason's Blend.
The batter is very thin and runny...but tastes delicious. I literally poured it using a glass measure into the muffin cups. Be sure not to overfill these cupcakes! And into the oven they went until baked.
The shiny gooey frosting can be a bit tricky but starts with sugar, cocoa powder, evaporated milk and butter. Melt away in a saucepan.
Bring to a rolling boil for 1 minute until it hits a soft ball stage.
I test this by dropping a bit into a glass of cold water and look for "soft balling" as taught to me by my grandma. My grandma takes her frosting a bit farther and it hardens into a fudge-like state. I prefer the shiny frosting.
The vanilla was stirred in and I actually dipped the cupcakes into the frosting to coat the surface. It worked beautifully to give each one a shiny coating of frosting.
The results were both stunning and delicious. The gooey frosting and moist cupcakes were decadent.
The Urban Professional Cupcake Recipe courtesy of my Grandma A:
2 cups flour
1 and 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp baking soda
2/3 cup oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup Peet's Major Dickason's coffee
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350F. Sift dry ingredients. Add in oil and buttermilk and stir. Add hot coffee and mix well. Stir in vanilla. Pour into lined muffin cups- about 2/3 full. Bake about 18-20 min until done. Cupcakes will be dark in color but toothpick should come out clean. Let cool on a rack and remove.
One Minute Frosting:
3 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter- cut into a few pieces
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Combine everything except vanilla. Stirring often, bring to a rolling boil. After about 1 minute, drop a bit into a glass of cold water to check for soft ball stage. Once reached, remove and stir vanilla. Dip cooled cupcakes into frosting and let set.
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp baking soda
2/3 cup oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup Peet's Major Dickason's coffee
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350F. Sift dry ingredients. Add in oil and buttermilk and stir. Add hot coffee and mix well. Stir in vanilla. Pour into lined muffin cups- about 2/3 full. Bake about 18-20 min until done. Cupcakes will be dark in color but toothpick should come out clean. Let cool on a rack and remove.
One Minute Frosting:
3 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter- cut into a few pieces
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Combine everything except vanilla. Stirring often, bring to a rolling boil. After about 1 minute, drop a bit into a glass of cold water to check for soft ball stage. Once reached, remove and stir vanilla. Dip cooled cupcakes into frosting and let set.