Mocha Cupcakes - Elizabeth

I think I'm going to be into making mini cupcakes for awhile here... Hope no one minds. ;)

These mocha cupcakes are pretty good. We had run out of coffee earlier in the day [& were snowed in], so I used some Starbucks Via [instant coffee] we had laying around. It didn't give the cupcakes as strong a coffee flavor as I would have liked - I would supplement with adding ground coffee to the batter next time. I frosted these with the ever-delicious cream cheese frosting from this post.

Also, the batter is pretty thin, but don't worry, it cooks up well.

Mocha Cupcakes
Makes 48 mini cupcakes

Ingredients
2.5 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ c cake flour
½ c flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cups hot coffee
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions
Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and salt together. In another bowl, whisk together the sour cream, cocoa powder and baking soda to form a paste, then slowly whisk in the hot coffee until the mixture is smooth.

In a third bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well. Add the vanilla extract. Add the melted chocolate and beat to incorporate.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the liquid mixture (beginning and ending with the flour mixture), beating just until all ingredients are incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.