Sam's Cupcakery

Mocha Frappuccino Cupcakes

I recently saw a post on Pinterest for Caramel Frappuccino Cupcakes (Pixie Crust)  and decided to attempt my favourite Starbucks drink and make some Mocha Frappuccino Cupcakes.

The cupcake is mocha flavoured sponge, filled with a mocha mousse and topped with a cream cheese/whipped cream frosting, drizzled with chocolate sauce and finished with chocolate vermicelli. Sounds lush, right? It tasted like a miniature pudding, very filling and something a little different.

The mocha sponge is based on the Hummingbird Bakery recipe from the Cake Days book, but I changed the amount of espresso and hot chocolate/cocoa powder slightly so there would be a stronger coffee taste. When I last made these cupcakes for Easter 2011, it tasted strongly of chocolate rather than a mix of chocolate and coffee.

The mocha mousse is adapted from a Betty Crocker recipe for chocolate mousse cake (the measurements below were enough to fill 12 cupcakes):

• 90g double cream
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 40ml coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua)
• 85g chocolate chips/shavings

1. Mix 30g of the double cream, all the sugar and coffee liqueur into a saucepan and cook over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture starts to simmer.
2. Remove from the heat and whilst its still hot, stir in the chocolate chips until they have melted
3. Cool to room temperature
4. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 60g of double cream until soft peaks start to form
5. Once chocolate mixture has cooled, fold in the whipped cream until well incorporated and refrigerate for 30 minutes

I found at first the mixture was really runny and I didn’t think it would set to a mousse-like consistency but it does, so don’t worry!

When the cupcakes cooled, I cut out small holes in the middle of each one and spooned in the mocha mousse, making sure it wasn’t overfilled as I pressed the cut out sponge piece back into the cupcake.The cream cheese/whipped cream frosting was adapted from this recipe here  and it holds up quite well unrefrigerated. The trick is to make sure you have whisked the cream long enough to it forms stiff peaks – I made the mistake of whisking until soft peaks formed, so when I piped out the frosting, it started to lose its shape. The recipe below is enough for 12 cupcakes:

• 110g soft cream cheese
• 50g granulated sugar
• 3ml vanilla extract
• 235ml double cream

1. Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until well combined
2. Slowly add the double cream until stiff peaks form

Pipe the whipped cream frosting on top of the cupcakes (making sure you cover the holes) and finish off with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and some chocolate sprinkles. I added the Starbucks straw just for effect.

Make sure you store in an airtight container (or in the fridge). Even though my frosting was runnier than I’d have liked, it held up well in an airtight box.