Espresso Chocolate Cupcakes

My cupcake craving BFF was over for dinner last weekend so I decide to make some homemade cupcakes for her to bring home after dinner.  This was my first time making cupcakes from scratch.  All the previous times I used Sprinkles cupcake mix, which were awesome by the way, but this time I decided to take up a new challenge and I am very happy with the results.  Everyone was saying these cupcakes taste even better than the Sprinkles ones! Yay!!!

The recipe was just something I randomly found on the internet.  Unfortunately, I lost the URL, otherwise I would always cite the orignal source.  Using regular muffin pans, my batter yielded 30 moist and decadent cupcakes.  I don't like my cakes too sweet so as usual, when I adapt a Western recipe I always cut down on the amount of sugar being called for.  If you prefer sweeter cupcakes, you might want to adjust it to your liking.

Makes 30 cakes

Difficulty: Intermediate

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

2 cups of hot strong coffee - my coffee maker broke so I had to get it from the nearby Starbucks.  A Grande (16 oz) Americano is exactly 2 cups =)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 3/4 cups (11 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour, sifted

2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

250 grams (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 eggs, at room temperature

For the ganache:

350 grams (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate (I used 1/3 milk chocolate and 2/3 90% dark chocolate because I love the bitter sweet taste)
3/4 cups heavy cream3/4 cups Hokkaido milk - the original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of cream and no milk but I think that might be a little too rich so I substitute 3/4 of cream with yummy Hokkaido milk
6 tablespoons for Baileys (or any coffee liqueur of your choice)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).  Line standard muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, mix cocoa powder and Americano coffee until it looks like a smooth chocolate sauces.  Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and sugars until nice and fluffy.
4. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.  Slowly add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until batter and mix for 2 minutes.
5. Add chocolate-coffee mixture and mix the cake batter for 3 minutes on medium-high or until the batter is smooth.
6. Fill each muffin cup until 2/3 full.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Check the cake after being baked for 10 minutes to ensure they are in the right shape.
7. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing and allow to cool on a wire rack.
8. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring heavy cream and milk to a boil and immediately turn heat off. Add chocolate to the cream, stirring constantly until chocolate ganache is smooth.  Add Baileys and allow ganache to cool.
9. Fill a piping bag with ganache and generously frost each cupcake.