Over the top, Perfect Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes for any occasion. Ultra rich, smooth and slightly addicting. This is seriously one easy chocolate cupcake recipe!
Hershey’s developed this fantastic chocolate cake and I’m not one to typically mess with perfection. But, I did.
I’ve been baking this rich, chocolate cake for years, with good, consistent results. But after learning that coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate, I just had to mess with perfection. Plus, who doesn’t love a mocha cupcake?
The espresso takes this cake to a new level of richness and makes the chocolate even bolder. It is the best chocolate cupcake recipe I have in my repertoire and one I return to again and again.
How to Make Perfect Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes:
- Add sugar to a mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt into the sugar bowl. Whisk, and set aside.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla. Add this mixture to the sugar/flour mixture of the stand mixer bowl. Using the paddle attachment, mix the ingredients on low just until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the boiling water and
- With mixer off, pour in the espresso and boiling water. Mix by hand until all ingredients are incorporated. Portion into cupcake cups and bake.
- To make the icing, cream the butter, add the powder sugar and cocoa powder while alternating with 2-3 TBS of milk at a time reserving the last two TBS for consistency adjustment.
- Once the cupcakes are cool, top with icing!
Have fun with the icing! This is the joy of cupcakes! I use a large closed star tip, like the one in this set to make my rosettes. Cupcakes can be garnished with so many different things. I like to add cocoa nibs which give an added layer of texture. But I’ve also used shaved chocolate, chocolate jimmies, sprinkles or nothing at all! Whatever you top your mocha cupcakes with, have fun!
This easy chocolate cupcake recipe IS for the chocolate lover. It’s rich, decadent and will leave you wanting another and another. It’s a perfectly balanced cupcake too in that there’s not too much icing per cupcake – read: overly sweet.
I use unsweetened dutch cocoa in this recipe. However, if you prefer a more mellow cake, but still with good chocolate flavor, use natural, unsweetened cocoa powder.
If a two layer cake is more of what you after, you can bake the mocha cupcake batter in two 9″ cake pans. Simply bake the cake for 30-35 minutes instead of the 25 minutes the cupcakes require. Be sure to spray your pan, line with parchment and spray with oil again. This will ensure an easy release.
A Few Recipe Notes:
- This recipe makes 27 cupcakes, an odd number, yes, but the batter can rest while some of the cupcakes are baking. Once the first or second batch is out of the oven, the remaining batter can be baked.
- For this mocha cupcake recipe, I use whole wheat unbleached white flour (aka ivory wheat). I like that it’s whole grain, it has a sturdy texture and I keep it stocked in my pantry. But, this recipe can be made with unbleached white flour as well. The texture will be different, but will still make a tasty cupcake.
- The recipe calls for 1/2 C espresso and 1/2 C water. For a stronger, bold coffee flavor, omit the water and use 1 C of very hot strong coffee.
- A few kitchen tools I use to make baking cupcakes a snap (these are affiliate links):
More Chocolate Recipes to Love:
- Spiked Orange Hot Chocolate
- Double Chocolate Chunk Mocha Cookies
- Double Chocolate Devils Food Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream
- Dark Chocolate Cocoa Nib Shortbread Cookies
Perfect Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes
Ingredients
For The Cake:
- 2 C Sugar 15 3/4 oz
- 1 3/4 C Whole Wheat Unbleached White Flour * see note 10 1/4 oz
- 3/4 C Unsweetened Dutch Process Cocoa 3 1/4 oz
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda 1/4 oz
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder 1/4 oz
- 1 tsp Salt 1/4 oz
- 1/2 C Coconut Oil Melted and Cooled (4 oz)
- 2 Large Eggs at Room Temperature
- 1 C Milk at Room Temperature 8 oz
- 3 tsp Vanilla Extract 1/8 oz
- 1/2 C Boiling Water **See Note 4 oz
- 1/2 C Espresso or Strong Coffee 4 oz
For The Icing:
- 2 sticks Sticks of Unsalted Butter at Room Temperature 8 oz
- 2/3 C Unsweetened Dutch Process Cocoa 2 oz
- 2 1/2 C Powder Sugar 8 5/8 oz
- 1 Tbs Vanilla Extract 1/8 oz
- 1/4 C + 2 TBS Milk at Room Temperature 3 oz
Instructions
For The Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add sugar to a mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt into the sugar bowl. Whisk, and set aside.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla. Add this mixture to the sugar/flour mixture of the stand mixer bowl. Using the paddle attachment, mix the ingredients on low just until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
- With mixer off, pour in the espresso and boiling water. Mix by hand until all ingredients are incorporated. A few lumps are ok. The batter will be runny. Let batter rest for 5 minutes.
- Line muffin pan with cupcake cups. Fill each cup to 3/4 full. Use a #20 ice cream scoop to make portioning a snap! One scoop per cup. Or, fill each cup 3/4 full, about 3 Tbs. Bake cupcakes for 25 minutes (but start checking for doneness at 22 minutes using the toothpick test).
- Once out of the oven cool cupcakes, in pan, on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Then remove from pan and let cool completely before icing.
For The Icing
- In a stand mixer, using a paddle attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- While the butter is creaming, sift together the powder sugar and cocoa powder. Once the butter is creamed, add the sifted cocoa and sugar alternatively first with all of the vanilla extract, then with 2-3 TBS of milk at a time reserving the last two TBS for consistency adjustment. The icing should be spreadable, not too stiff or loose.
- Once the cupcakes are cool, pipe the icing on the cupcakes. Store in a covered container at room temperature for up to three days.
Notes
*Unbleached white flour may also be used instead of Whole Wheat White, but the texture will be slightly different.
**Omit the water and use 1 C of very hot strong coffee for a BIG bold espresso flavored cupcake!
Adapted from Hershey's
If you make this recipe, or any others on Vanilla And Bean, be sure to post it to Instagram and tag #VanillaAndBean! I’d love to see what you’ve made! Also, if you like my content, please consider sharing it with three friends and/or family. Thank you!
Kahle says
August 1, 2018 at 9:33 amOn your recipe it says 2 oz sticks of butter – is that 2 four ounce sticks? Want to make sure I use the right about for the frosting:)
Traci says
August 1, 2018 at 10:38 amHi Kahle! You’re right… 2 sticks (it should read 2 sticks, 8 oz). Thank you for your note. I hope you enjoy the recipe and have fun creating them!
Katie says
April 28, 2017 at 7:24 amThese look amazing! Do you think this recipe would be enough to make a layer cake? Thanks!!!
Traci says
April 28, 2017 at 7:34 amHi Katie! Easily. I’ve actually scaled this recipe down to make two 6″ cake rounds, but I didn’t write the recipe down. You could probably get away with using two 7″ or 9″ round pans. Fill 1/2 – 3/4 full (but not more) and you’ll need to bake them a bit longer. I would say to start checking them at around 25-30 minutes using the toothpick test. I hope this helps and you enjoy the recipe!
Lynne says
October 9, 2016 at 8:48 pmWowza! This was delicious! Loved my first from scratch chocolate cake. Full cup of coffee in the batter and 1 cup less sugar in the buttercream. Stunning! Of course, it helped that you made it in my kitchen…thank you! When I make it on my own I will try the iced espresso instead of milk in icing. Soooooo good!
Hayu says
July 23, 2016 at 4:59 amSERIOUSLY YUMMY! Made half recipe for my kiddos today just before my lunch break. I reduced the sugar to 3/4c for half recipe since I used regular cocoa powder (no one sell hershey here). The result is 14 delicious cupcakes . Had no chance to do the frosting since we only have 5 cupcakes left after the lunch break. Thanks Traci!
Traci says
July 23, 2016 at 8:59 amHey Hayu! Thank you for your note on halfing the recipe! Hooray…! I’m so pleased you and your kiddos loved the recipe :D . No doubt you had no chance to ice them.. they are sooo good as is!
Jennifer says
June 26, 2016 at 1:28 pmGreat recipe! I’ve been making and decorating cakes for years but this was the very first cupcake recipe I attempted to make from scratch and I was very pleased! The was hesitant with the runny batter so I made 12 cupcakes with the exact recipe and 12 with 3 extra tbs’s of flour.. The original recipe they were very moist but the cupcakes concaved in the middle and the batter with the extra flour seemed a little more dry but cooked flat which I liked. Any ideas to come up with a happy medium of still deliciously moist and flat on top ? I also am thinking to get a stronger coffee flavor I may try coffee extract and all coffee instead of coffee and water :) thanks again !!
Traci says
June 26, 2016 at 3:29 pmHi Jennifer! Thank you for your note. I’m sorry you had trouble with the recipe. You can replace the water with strong coffee – that would be delicious. The batter is a runny batter as noted. Concave cupcakes in the center could have occurred due to several reasons: > An under-preheated oven. Do you have a thermometer for your oven? > If the oven door was opened too early in the baking process to ‘check’ the cupcakes. > Expired baking powder/soda. > Over-mixing the batter. I hope you’ll use the ones that sank for bonbons http://vanillaandbean.com/boozy-chocolate-bon-bons/ . I hope this helps!
Jennifer says
July 29, 2016 at 7:41 amThank you so much. I made this recipe again with regular flour and they are absolutely delicious ! I was wondering if you knew approximately how many calories are in your recipe per cupcake ?
Traci says
July 29, 2016 at 8:09 amHooray! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Jennifer! I don’t know the calorie count, but you can plug the recipe into this calculator to find out: https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php Thank you for your note!
Joy says
June 7, 2016 at 12:28 pmI made these cupcakes for my coworkers the other day and wow, all 24 of them were demolished! I have never made chocolate cupcakes so good and the frosting makes you want more. I love this recipe and will use them every time I make chocolate cupcakes. Thank you for sharing!
Traci says
June 9, 2016 at 4:43 amHooray! Thank you so much for sharing, Joy. This makes my day! :D
Glynda says
May 24, 2016 at 9:27 pmHI, I love trying new chocolate cake recipes! Especially ones that contain coffee. However, I have a question…do you use brewed coffee and hot water, or coffee grounds? I can’t wait to try!
Traci says
May 25, 2016 at 7:06 amHi Glynda! Use 1/2 C Boiling Water AND 1/2 C brewed coffee or espresso (no coffee grounds). I’ll make a note in the recipe! I hope this helps!
Sandy says
May 22, 2016 at 3:27 pmSee the picture, but cannot get the recipe to sho up.
Husbands That Cook says
December 18, 2015 at 4:49 pmWe made these yesterday and they were absolutely delicious!! Perfectly moist and tender, deeply chocolatey and rich, and the frosting is so silky smooth! Thanks for the great recipe, Traci! We’ll definitely be making them again soon!
Traci says
December 18, 2015 at 5:43 pmHooray! This is great Adam and Ryan. Thank you for sharing here and on IG! :D It’s one of the first recipes I blogged about because it’s solid and one of my most favorites! I use the cake for so many other recipes too. Your description is spot on! We love this one too! :D
Lyndsey says
January 19, 2015 at 1:18 pmMade these this weekend and they were wonderful. I used vegetable oil instead of coconut and it was fine. I did find the batter to be a little runny, so I added a couple of tablespoons of flour to make it a bit thicker (in the future could add less water).
I made the icing into chocolate coffee buttercream by subbing the 2 tablespoons of milk for iced coffee.
These were absolutely divine. Thanks for sharing!
Sara says
September 14, 2014 at 7:51 amHii! I was wondering if you think using canola oil would also work? Cant wait to try it! Thanks
Traci says
September 14, 2014 at 8:11 amHi Sara! I think canola will work just fine. Thanks for asking and stopping by. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Sara says
September 22, 2014 at 6:47 amSooo I couldn’t find the hersey cocoa powder, and i was to short in time to buy it on Amazon. So I used a regular cocoa powder, with canola oil. I wanted them to taste expresso a bit more, so i filled them with expresso buttercream and topped them with dark chocolate ganache !
Made some mini cupcake for a friend’s exposition. SUUUUPER cute and delicious ! Thanks again for your recipe !
Traci says
September 22, 2014 at 3:01 pmHi Sara! Oh this is fabulous! You are welcome! I’m inspired by your adaptations of buttercream stuffed and ganache topped (ohhhh ganache!)! Thank you for sharing your success and adaptations! Well done!
Rachel says
February 12, 2019 at 10:24 pmHi Sarah, Did you have to change the measurement or cook time when using canola oil, or was it an even swap?
Faye says
April 14, 2014 at 4:44 pmyum, yum, yum!! I’ve been using the Hershey’s cake recipe for years as well. I love it and use it as the base for most of my chocolate cake/cupcake recipes. Adding espresso powder is a great trick!
Traci says
April 14, 2014 at 6:18 pmHi Faye. Yes, I agree, Yum, Yum, Yum! It IS a great recipe. It’s almost no fail!
Barbara Finch says
April 12, 2014 at 4:13 pmHi Traci;
This is Mother Finch from Columbia, SC, and what an informative, helpful website you have got goin’ on! The Photos are so clear and tempting, and that is one fine Photographer you have!
Carrie arrives Wednesday evening, and we will be trying these healthy recipes. Thanks for a fine job!! All the Best to You, Rob and Kitties! Barbara
Traci says
April 12, 2014 at 7:41 pmHello Ma Finch! Thanks for stopping by! Thank you for your kind comments. Hope you enjoy the recipes! And have a wonderful visit! Best to you!
Jessica says
March 27, 2014 at 6:04 amThank you for including a recommend bake time for those preferring to make it as a cake. I always have the hardest time with that!
Traci says
March 27, 2014 at 3:19 pmHi Jessica! Would love to hear how your cake turns out!
Abbie @ Needs Salt says
March 27, 2014 at 5:47 amThese cupcakes look incredible! Everything about them.
Pinning!
Traci says
March 27, 2014 at 3:19 pmThank you Abbie!
Amber says
March 15, 2014 at 9:21 pmOhh…Love adding coffee to chocolate. What a great idea. I’ll do this sometimes with my chocolate smoothies – throw in a shot or two of espresso and some cinnammon. YUM! Maybe these will be great for our B-Days?? One could only hope.
Traci says
March 16, 2014 at 2:09 amWe’ll make it so!
Mom says
March 13, 2014 at 7:52 amFantastic pictures and commentary. My mouth is watering and I can’t wait for more!!!! Congratulations, Traci. You are a star who has caught her dream.