Espresso Cupcakes

I posted pictures of these on my face book page and several of you asked for the recipe, so there you you have it. I never know what people are going to be interested in. Forgot my cute kids, the people want cupcakes!! I actually concocted this recipe myself, so I hope it doesn't disappoint. If I could have looked into the future 7 years ago and saw myself creating recipes, I would have NEVER believed it. I had MULTIPLE disasters (Tim could give you an earful) in the kitchen before I ever could cook anything decent or find my way around a kitchen. My mom raised us on home-cooked square meals most every night, however I never absorbed any cooking skills. When I was married and living on my own, I figured out really quickly that good food wasn't going to magically appear, so I had to start learning. Now I know enough about baking and cooking (and probably have an extra pound or two to prove it!) to create my own things and tweak other recipes. Not that it's all that wonderful, but it's pretty hard to believe if you ever had tried any of my primitive kitchen creations. Look at me all grown up.

That being said, feel free to tweak my recipe as you see fit. I'm definitely NOT an expert!

Ingredients for Cupcakes

• 1 and 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 and 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp soft butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla flavoring
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Ingredients for Icing

• 1 stick softened butter
• 1 tbsp instant coffee
• 1 and 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3 or 4 tbsp HOT water
• 3 to 4 tbsp milk

Cupcake Directions

Beat sugar and butter together until incorporated. Then add eggs, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat in the cocoa powder. Carefully beat in flour a little at a time. Then drop into lightly greased muffin tin. Bake for 15-17 minutes on 350.

Icing Directions

Beat sugar and butter together until incorporated. Then mix the coffee and the HOT water together and add to butter/sugar mix and beat. Then add milk to get the consistency that you desire. You can also keep adding powdered sugar to get the consistency/taste you desire. Put in a large plastic freezer bag, snip end and ice cupcakes (after cooled completely). Or, you can use a pastry bag...probably better.

**NOTES**

The powdered sugar measurement is not exact...I really kept adding it until I got the consistency right, but I think that's a ball park estimate. Also, I baked the cupcakes for 16 minutes and they turned out just a hair overdone/dry so depending on your oven, you can bake on the quicker side.