Last updated on April 3rd, 2022

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Spectacularly sweet and unbelievably soft these coffee and walnut cupcakes are perfect for an afternoon coffee break. Make a batch of them and enjoy them throughout the week or whip them up when you are entertaining guests. These cupcakes are a beautiful mix of rich espresso and mildly nutty walnuts topped with a velvety buttercream spiked with a little cocoa.

How do you make the perfect cupcake?

Make sure the butter is at the right temperature

Your butter should be soft but not oily. You should be able to easily stick your finger into it, but it will hold its shape. You shouldn’t see any oily or wet parts on the butter. Whenever you see a recipe that calls for room temperature butter this is typically the consistency that you need. In standard home temperature conditions, you can achieve this consistency by leaving the butter out of the fridge for around 2 hours.

Too cold butter will give you those weird peaks in the middle of the cupcake and the texture will be dense. This is because the air won’t be as well incorporated throughout the batter due to the heavy butter. Overly melted butter and you may find that the cupcakes shrink in the cases.

Mix it enough, but not too much…

If you are using a stand mixer then you want to mix on a medium to medium-high speed for around 1 minute before adding the coffee and vanilla and then a further 40-50 seconds. If you are using a hand mixer then increase the total mixing time by 10-20 seconds or so to account for the fact you’ll need to chase the batter a little around the side of the bowl more

If you undermix the batter, then you simply aren’t incorporating enough air into the mixture. Your cupcakes will end up dense and again you’ll have peaks in the middle. Conversely, if you overmix the batter you’ll end up with a batter that is far too light and fluffy – so much so that they can’t hold their shape during baking and will rise like crazy and then shrivel when cooling.

Don’t overfill the cases…

You want the cases to be around half full with batter. This may be a little tough to judge because of the space around the thick batter on all sides but take your best judgement call. For a standard-sized cupcake, this is around the size of an ice cream scoop of batter.

Overfilled cases will, of course, overspill in the oven.

Make sure to use the right measure of espresso

I’ve given the measurements by ml and tablespoons to be explicitly clear since a serving or a shot may mean different things to different people or in different countries. The more espresso you use the more liquid you are adding to the batter which will affect the result. If you want a stronger coffee taste then use a stronger coffee but don’t increase the volume of coffee.

Can I make them in advance?

Cupcakes are great to make in advance, but few people tend to take advantage of that fact! Whip yourself up a batch, freeze some and pop one out whenever you have the urge.

Freshly baked and frosted cupcakes will keep on the counter (covered) for up to 2-3 days at room temperature. Or you can keep them in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you are keeping them in the fridge then make sure to keep them away from any smelly food as odours can be absorbed by the buttercream.

To freeze the cupcakes then wrap them in clingfilm individually and then line them in a container in the freezer (so they aren’t squashed before they are frozen). They will keep for up to 3 months. The buttercream can also be frozen in a sealed container. You will need to give it a quick mix before topping the cupcakes to fluff it up.

You can also freeze decorated/frosted cupcakes, although I would only do this if needed as the buttercream will lose some texture after thawed (and you can’t simply remix it if it’s already on top of a cupcake). Place them in the freezer where they won’t be squashed, until they are frozen solid. Then wrap in clingfilm and place upright in a container to stop them from being knocked around.

Ingredients

For a full list of ingredients with weights and volumes jump to the printable recipe card.

For the batter

• Plain (all purpose) flour
• Baking powder
• Light brown sugar
• Eggs
• Unsalted butter – I like to use unsalted butter in most cases and then add a little salt if needed so I can control the amount.
• Espresso – you can use espresso from a coffee machine, or use instant espresso powder. If you only have standard instant coffee powder then use around 1 tsp for every 15ml (tbsp) of water.
• Vanilla extract
• Walnuts, roughly chopped

For the buttercream topping

• Butter
• Icing sugar
• Espresso (see above section for notes)
• Cocoa powder

How to make them

For more detailed steps with recipe tips jump to the printable recipe card.

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/350F.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder and sugar together in a large bowl.
3. Add the butter and eggs to the flour and beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer for around 1 minute.
4. Add the espresso and vanilla extract and continue to beat for a further 40 seconds.
5. Line 12 cupcake lines in a cupcake tray and divide the batter between the cases.
6. Bake the cupcakes for 20-22 minutes until springy on the top (if you place your finger on the top the indent left should spring back rather than staying). Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
7. While the cupcakes are baking make the buttercream. Beat the butter for 5-6 minutes until it turns pale and fluffy.
8. Beat in the icing sugar, a little at a time.
9. Add the espresso and cocoa powder and mix until evenly distributed.
10. Pipe or spoon the buttercream on top of the cupcakes.

Looking for more great cake recipes? Try:

• Dark chocolate flapjack
• Individual yogurt cakes
• Date and walnut cake
• Individual carrot cakes
• Vanilla mug cake
• Freezable Yorkshire parkin

Products that work well for this recipe:

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