Coffee & Mascarpone Cupcakes

After the long summer break, this week I finally have a bit of time to start baking again! So I decided to bake coffee cupcakes and make use of some mascarpone that had been sitting in my fridge for weeks! This recipe is almost like a Victoria sponge cake recipe. This Coffee & Mascarpone Cupcakes recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

• 125g butter, softened
• 125g caster sugar
• 150g self-raising flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 – 4 tablespoons of cold strong coffee
• 250g mascarpone
• 125g icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons of rose syrup
• Optional: chocolate wafers and chocolate hearts

Method:

1. Beat the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and a spoonful of the flour each time. Mix in the remaining flour and coffee. Divide into 12 portions and bake for 15 – 20 min at 160°C. Leave to cool.
2. Mix the mascarpone, icing sugar and rose syrup well. Chill for at least 30 min – 1 hour before piping.
3. Decorate the cupcake with the chocolate wafers and chocolate hearts.

This is my first time baking coffee cupcakes and they all went down well. I used four teaspoons of instant coffee and mixed with 30 ml of hot water to dissolve it. If you prefer a stronger coffee flavour, just add more instant coffee. Or you can use a stove coffee maker. I think this ratios above work well though and all my friends love the combination of rose flavoured mascarpone. I think next week I will try to make tea cupcakes!