High Altitude Coffee Cupcakes
An easy, high altitude recipe for fluffy coffee cupcakes made with espresso powder, frosted with coffee buttercream, and topped with espresso sugar and crushed chocolate covered espresso beans.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Standard-Sized Muffin Pan
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ¾ cup whole milk, lukewarm
- 1 ½ tbsp instant espresso powder
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 10 minutes
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups + 2 tbsp cake flour or all purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
Buttercream
- 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ tbsp meringue powder (optional)
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pan/s with 15 paper liners.
- In a bowl, whisk together the milk and espresso powder until dissolved. Whisk in the eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder, then whisk until everything is well distributed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and whisk just until smooth and combined.
- Divide the batter between the paper liners, filling them no more than 2/3 - 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes on the center oven rack for about 18-20 minutes, until the centers of the cupcakes spring back when gently touched, or a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pans for several minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt. With the mixer running on low, add the powdered sugar mixture by spoonfuls to the butter, mixing just until combined. The buttercream will be clumpy at this point.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cream, espresso powder and vanilla until the coffee is dissolved. Add to the buttercream, and increase the speed to medium. Whip the buttercream for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until very light and fluffy. Turn the speed down to "stir" and mix for 1 more minute.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, fill with the buttercream, and pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle the cupcakes with crushed chocolate covered espresso beans and espresso sugar.
Notes
These can be baked and frosted one day in advance, stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Bring to room temperature before serving.
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