“To me, the smell of fresh-made coffee is one of the greatest inventions.”- Hugh Jackman.
It’s no secret that I am a big coffee drinker. I am trying to cut down caffeine intake though (why cant things I love ever be good for me!!!). Good news is – I am drinking a lot less of it. Not so good news – I am still baking with it! Wait.. thats still good news I guess. I love me some coffee in my desserts!
I am not an expert in eggfree baking. Infact , I literally struggle with getting eggless cakes as good as my eggy cakes. Cupcakes , I have more success with . I love these eggfree vanilla , chocolate and red velvet cupcakes. These are some of most followed recipes and the ones I get rave feedbacks on! These coffee cupcakes are totally in the same league (I hope so!). They are so good , you would never guess they had no eggs !
The cupcake sponge is really light and fluffy . The buttercream is just that.. utterly buttery and creamy. It is the coffee version of my “new ” buttercream. Together , it’s one delicious mouthful and a good caffeine kick ! I have used filter coffee decoction for the flavoring in both (which a sweet friend from Coorg brought down for me!) but this works well with instant coffee powder as well.
Eggless coffee cupcakes
Ingredients
For the coffee cupcakes
- 56 grams or 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 150 grams or 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 190 grams or 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 60 ml or 1/4 cup coffee or filter coffee decoction, at room temperature
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup milk at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the coffee buttercream
- 221 grams or 1 cup unsalted or salted butter at room temperature
- 112 grams or 1/2 cup castor sugar
- 60 ml or 1/4 cup coffee or filter coffee decoction
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 180 C / 350 F . Line your cupcake pan with liners or grease the cavities well.
- Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Keep aside.
- Prepare your coffee by dissolving 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder in 1/4 cup water or by preparing 1/4 cup filter coffee decoction. Mix the coffee/decoction with the milk and vanilla. Keep aside.
- Using an electric mixer or whisk , beat the sugar and butter for 5 minutes.
- Add and beat in one-third of the flour - followed by half of the coffee-milk mixture - followed by another one third of flour - the remaining half of coffee and milk mixture -lastly the remaining third of the flour. Beat after each addition until incorporated. Don't overheat after the last addition of flour.
- Divide the batter into 12 cupcake liners / cupcake pan cavities , filling each about 2/3rds full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and dry.
- Cool and frost !
For the buttercream
- Using an electric mixer , beat the butter until light and smooth. This will take few minutes.
- Add half of the sugar (1/4 cup) and half the coffee (2 tablespoons) . Beat for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the remaining half of the sugar and coffee and beat well until you get desired consistency.
Notes
The buttercream can be refrigerated for upto a week. Bring to room temperature and beat again for desired consistency.
For stronger coffee flavour , add more instant coffee powder or make a stronger decoction.
If you don't have castor or super fine sugar , pulse your regular sugar in the blender or processor once. You could also use granulated sugar but will need to beat the buttercream more until you cant feel any grains.
All ovens work different , if your cupcakes have cracked domes, try baking at 160 C for a few minutes longer!
These cupcakes are delicate and soft and you will love every bit of the coffee that you taste. The buttercream is in perfect contrast rich and luxurious . I have to warn you – this is a “butter”cream in the truest sense. It is really buttery! So , if you want to skip it (hey, its still early enough in January that resolutions are still in place!) , go ahead. The cupcakes are delicious enough to handle it by themselves!
Affiliate links : Just so you know, I have baked these cupcakes in my trusty Morphy Richards 52 Litre Oven 
Happy baking !
Hi, Can i use Cake flour instead of AP Flour? What should be the ratio?
Hi Neha…
You can surely use cake flour. Equal quantity as ap flour. No other changes needed. The cake will be slightly be more tender or delicate !
I tried this cupcake. Followed exact measurements. Somehow it was hard and didn’t taste good. (I have made mango cupcakes and carrot muffins earlier following other website recipes and it had come perfect, however this was an utter failure) don’t know what went wrong
Hi Uma… I am sorry the cupcakes failed you! Any chance of over mixing? That’s the only reason I can think of hard cupcakes. Bcoz these are so fluffy. And you didn’t like the taste? Too bitter?
Hi, those cupcakes looks awesome !!!
Can I use salted butter instead of unsalted butter ? And if I can use salted butter …then I think there is no use of adding salt to the mixture right?
Hi Anindita ! yes, simply omit the salt and go ahead with the salted butter!
Hi
Lovely cupcakes..which nozzle have you used to pipe the frosting..can u explain the process of making this swirl on the cupcakes?
Hi Vidhi… i used Wilton 1m (open star) nozzle. Just fill the piping bag fitted with the nozzle. Start by piping a circle on the outer edge of the cupcake top, continue with a smaller circle on top and then the pointed tip. A youtube video will be more helpful in understanding i think!
Hi,
Just baked coffee cupcakes, thanks for posting a wonderful and detailed recipe .
While they taste yummy, I have not been able to achieve a round surface, cupcakes are cracked on the top, where did I go wrong ?
Hi Reshma…. try baking at 20 c lesser the next time for a smooth dome… hope this helps and thanks for trying the cupcakes!
Can I use clarified butter instead of butter?? And will the quantity be same?
Hi sneha… Yes, technically u can use ghee instead of butter , the rest of the ingredients and steps would remain the same. But i am not totally sure about how ghee and coffee would taste together
Hi! Wanted to know how much coffee powder to be taken to make it 1/4th cup? Asking for coffee water proportion as no idea how to make it. Thnx. Pls do help as wanting to mk if today. Thnx again.
Hi Amita… I use about 3/4 tsp to 1 tsp if using instant coffee powder . You can make it stronger if you wish 🙂
Hi can I use caster sugar in place of granulated sugar???
Hey Amrita… yes , you can 🙂
Hi, today I made this cupcakes n they turned out to be just awesome… just one question, can I double the quantity to more cupcakes n also can I use the rectangle bread loaf tray to make this cake?
Hi Deepthi !! Glad the cupcakes came out well. You can double the recipe but I would wary about baking it in a bread loaf pan . In my experiences, eggless cakes dont have that great a texture when its so thick. But you could give it a try and bake at 160. Let me know what happens. Happy baking!
Can I add Eggs to this recipe? if can , how many ?
Hi, when you say 1/4 cup coffee (for both the cupcakes and the buttercream), how much instant coffee should I put in how much water?
Hi Anjali..you can use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee powder in each 1/4 cup of water depending on how strong you want the coffee flavour !
Hi! I love all your recipes especially your chocolate cupcakes 🙂
Can these coffee cupcakes be baked in normal cake tin?
If so, can you tell me the tin size, baking time and temperature? TIA
Thanks so much Ankitha.. you can bake the batter in a 7 or 8 inch tin for 28 to 30 minutes at 180 C. Start checking at 25 minutes as ovens vary 🙂
You are such a sweetheart. Thank you for the immediate reply. It came out so well 🙂
I tried these cupcakes yesterday. They had a different taste altogether. Somewhere I tasted a tinge of spice in this, perhaps its the mix of coffee and vanilla! They came out good and moist! Looking forward to trying more recipes from your website… 🙂
Thanks for trying Steffi..Glad you liked the way they turned out!
Hi Akshatha, I’m a great fan of your posts. Had tried your chocolate sponge cake and your swiss meringue buttercream – it was sooo amazing. Thank you for all the lovely recipes.
I’m eager to try out this recipe as well, as I love cupcakes but haven’t tried them till now. I’m just a baking hobbyist so I don’t have a cupcake pan, it is necessary to use one. Can the cupcakes be made with only filling up the batter in the cupcake paper liners and baking on a flat baking tray?
Thanks so much Lafiya ! Your feedback is much appreciated ! ABout these cupcakes – you can bake them in a round pan like a cake. You can use cupcake liners which are made with thick paper or aluminium and can stand on their own. Place them on a baking tray and bake ! The thin paper liners arent sturdy enough. Another option is it to use idli bowls / small metal bowls or katoris . Grease them well or line with liners and use… hope this was helpful ! Happy Baking Lafiya !
Thanks a lot for the tips, Aksh. 🙂
Can I substitute oil instead of butter pls???? What do you think?
Hi !!! i dont think substituting oil is a great idea here as the butter and sugar are creamed together for that consistency. If you do want to use oil , you can go ahead but make sure to beat the oil and sugar well 🙂
I’m all for coffee in desserts too! OR in my breakfast – coffee oats are the best. Anyway, these cupcakes look delicious! I can never get the buttercream to look this good, but maybe I’m just not patient enough… 😛 Can I ask why you make eggless cakes in the first place? Is there a difference? Have a great week!
Hey Vivian… I am from India and there are some cultures in India which do not consume eggs and meat. So there are loads of my readers who wish not to use eggs in their bakes.Then there are those allergic to eggs. And hence the experimentation ! There is definitely a difference in the bakes which dont have eggs but there a lot of bakers in India who specialise in Eggfree baking… Glad to know you are a fellow coffee dessert lover.. I should try coffee pats sometime! Enjoy your day !!