Coffee and Vanilla

This week's venture was a batch of Golden Vanilla cupcakes (with chocolate buttercream frosting) and a batch of Coffee cupcakes (with mocha buttercream frosting). The vanilla cupcake base comes out a different texture than the chocolate base--lighter and springier. I altered the frosting recipe a bit and prefer it to the first batches of chocolate buttercream, so I'm quite happy with that. I didn't feel like the coffee flavoring in the frosting was quite strong enough for "mocha," but it worked well in the cupcakes so I think next time I'll just adjust the amount for mocha frosting.

The big excitement of this batch was decorating! I got a "cupcake decorating set" that's sort of a tube with a plunger and decorating tips, instead of a pastry bag. I have mixed feelings about the tube versus a bag--I feel like I have less control--but the tips were fun to experiment with. They didn't all come out as beautifully as I wanted, but I'm sure I'll be getting plenty of practice! Cupcakes make great breakfast food. ;-)

Next attempt will be mocha cupcakes--Mocha Oreo, maybe! I want to recreate one of my favorite ice cream flavors, Mississippi Mud, which was coffee ice cream with Oreos and a fudge swirl...but I don't think the coffee cupcake base is right for it. I'm thinking Mocha Oreo cupcakes with maybe a coffee frosting, drizzled with chocolate ganache?