Dark chocolate mocha cupcakes with vanilla bean latte swiss meringue buttercream and dark chocolate espresso beans!

This completed recipe was so natural to a coffee-junkie like me, I couldn't believe I never thought of it before combining a mocha cupcake with my vanilla bean latte swiss meringue it's just common sense! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Ingredients

3/4 cup strong, hot coffee

3 tsp instant espresso powder

3/4 cup dark cocoa powder

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp

2 cups brown sugar

3 large eggs, room temp

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup buttermilk, room temp

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp sour cream, room temp

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners

Whisk together coffee, espresso powder and cocoa in a small bowl and set aside. Sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder in another small bowl and set aside. Measure out buttermilk and mix with vanilla extract and set aside.

In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar and salt. Add eggs, one at a time, beating each egg in thoroughly and scraping the side of the bowl before adding the next egg. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk and mix until combined. Repeat, ending with the last of the flour mixture. Add the cocoa and coffee mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Fold in sour cream.

Divide equally into prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 16-18 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool thoroughly on wire racks before frosting.

*To make the Vanilla Bean Latte Swiss Meringue Buttercream as shown in the photo, I simply made my usual vanilla buttercream (see my Basic Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe) only add 1 tsp of vanilla extract (instead of the amount listed) and either one scraped vanilla bean (using the seeds) or 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste. After your buttercream is nice and satiny smooth, slowly add in 2 tbsp of espresso powder that has been dissolved in 4 tsp of water. *You'll want to dissolve the espresso powder in 4 tsp of hot water ahead of time and let it cool before adding to your buttercream*

To achieve the look as shown in my photo, I used a Wilton 2D tip to pipe my buttercream and topped the cupcakes with dark chocolate covered espresso beans