This recipe is for those who love strong Coffee and bitter Dark Chocolate. The flavour is not good for children. You can reduce the amount of Coffee and use Milk Chocolate to make these cupcakes more suitable for everyone. But I definitely love this recipe as it is.

Makes

12 Cupcakes

Ingredients

125g Butter *softened
1/4 cup Caster Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar *firmly packed
1 pinch Salt
2 Eggs *room temperature
2 tablespoons Instant Coffee Granules *1 tablespoon is 15ml
2-3 tablespoons Hot Water
Milk to make 1/2 cup Coffee Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract *OR Rum, Brandy, etc.
1 & 1/2 cups Self-Raising Flour
100g Dark Chocolate with a high cocoa content *coarsely chopped

Method
  1. Preheat oven to 180℃. Line a 12-hole medium-size muffin tin with paper cases.
  2. Place Coffee Granules and Hot Water in a measuring cup, and mix well. Add Milk up to 1/2 cup marking. *Note: If you don’t have Instant Coffee, use 2-3 tablespoons very strong Coffee.
  3. Beat softened Butter in a mixing bowl with a whisk until smooth. Add Caster Sugar and Brown Sugar, and beat until creamy.
  4. Add Eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. If the Eggs are too cold, the mixture will curdle. Try to stand the bowl in warm water, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds, then continue beating until the batter becomes smooth and creamy.
  5. Add the Coffee Milk mixture, Vanilla and Flour, and mix well. Finally add Dark Chocolate and combine.
  6. Spoon the mixture into paper cases. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked through. Leave in tins for 5 minutes before moving onto wire rack to cool.