Coffee Cupcakes

I saw the idea on CafeMom and knew that I just had to give them a try.

My sister is a huge Starbuck's fan, so I decided to make them for her birthday.

She absolutely loved them...in fact, we all did!

The "Caramel Macchiatto" cupcakes are chocolate-espresso cake with caramel buttercream (my fave), and the "Strawberries and Cream Latte" cupcakes are strawberry cake with vanilla buttercream.

Yes, they taste every bit as good as they look!

Want to make your own? Read on for instructions and to see more delish pics!

How to Make these Coffee Cupcakes

I was lucky enough to score some sample-size cups from our local Starbuck's shop.

If your local shop isn't as generous, you can make your own cups. Just get plain white little cups (like you'd use in the bathroom to rinse your mouth), and make copies of the Starbuck's logo off of the internet. Adhere the logos to the cups and you're all set!

1. Place the cups in the holes of a muffin pan. Fill each cup about 3/4 full with cake batter. I used chocolate espresso cake (made from scratch) and strawberry cake from a mix.

2. Bake as directed, or until a toothpick inserted into the cakes comes out clean. Remove cups from the pans and put them on a wire rack to cool completely.

3. Fit decorating bags with tips and pipe the frosting on top of the cakes to look like whipped cream. Caramel buttercream tops the chocolate-espresso cakes, while vanilla buttercream tops the strawberry cakes. I used two different tips just to create different effects. The "rippled" whipped cream on the strawberry cupcakes was done with a Wilton #16 star tip, while the more smooth whipped cream on the caramel lattes was done with a Wilton #5 tip.

4. Drizzle with strawberry and caramel topping and serve! (I used Smucker's strawberry topping and Hershey's caramel topping). Don't they look awesome?!!

Complete yummy goodness! Enjoy! :)

Links You Don't Want to Miss