Nordic Mocha Latte Cupcakes
What makes these cupcakes Nordic? A healthy amount of cardamom and cinnamon, that’s what! There is a great coffee shop in Minneapolis with a Nordic latte, and it just has all of those cozy flavors I live for in the wintertime. This is my recreation of that latte but in cupcake form. The cupcake itself is marbled with chocolate, hence the “mocha.” Once they cool, you frost them with a decadent espresso buttercream and dust with a little cocoa powder. These are absolutely incredible, fairly easy to throw together, and will be your new favorite Nordic-inspired treat for the winter (or anytime, really). Try it out, and let me know what you think!
Tips on how to prep these and store the cupcakes can be found in the last step of the method.
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yields: 12 large cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes—
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp freshly ground cardamom
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp Dutch process cocoa powder (unsweetened), plus more for finishing
4 tbsp hot water
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup salted butter, at room temp
4 large eggs, at room temp
2 cups whole milk
For the espresso buttercream—
1/4 cup espresso, brewed and cooled
2 tbsp heavy cream
2 cups salted butter, softened (4 sticks)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4-5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line a cupcake pan with large cupcake liners, placing one in every other slot. Due to their size, it is better to bake only six at a time.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt.
Whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water in another medium bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and beat on medium for 2-3 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the milk and beat until just blended.
Transfer 1/4 of the batter into the chocolate bowl. Stir to combine. You should have 3/4 regular batter and 1/4 chocolate batter.
Add 1/4 cup of plain batter to each cupcake liner. Top each cupcake with 2 tbsp of the chocolate batter, and using a toothpick, swirl the two as best as you can to create a marbling effect.
Bake six cupcakes at a time for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.
For the buttercream, whisk the cooled espresso with the heavy cream to combine the two. Set this aside.
Add your softened butter to the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment on. Cream the butter on medium for 1-2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
Add the vanilla, salt, and espresso-cream mixture to the creamed butter and mix until well combined.
Add the sifted powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until it is combined, scraping the bowl as needed. Once all of the sugar has been added, beat the buttercream on high for 1 minute or until it reaches your desired consistency.
Remove the buttercream from the bowl and stuff it into a pastry or Ziplock bag. You can use whatever piping tip you would like, or if you are using a Ziplock bag, just cut the end off of one of the corners, however small or large you would like. Once you have frosted all of your cooled cupcakes, dust them with a little cocoa powder. Serve right away! If you need to serve these at a later time, you can store unfrosted cupcakes at room temp and keep your buttercream in the fridge. Bring your buttercream to room temp before piping it onto your cupcakes. You can also store frosted cupcakes, but make sure to keep them in the fridge. Just bring them to room temp before eating. Enjoy!
