These French Vanilla Cappuccino Cupcakes are light and fluffy cupcakes topped with a sweet french vanilla cappuccino buttercream that is out of this world!
Do you ever have one of those days where even the things you’ve done a hundred times, you just can seem to get right? A couple weekends ago… that was cupcakes for me. I trashed three batches and made two trips to the store for ingredients. I was running out of daylight to photograph in and wanted to just throw the frosting bag in the ring and call it quits, but boy am I glad I didn’t!
As a kid, my brother and I loved those convenient store french vanilla cappuccinos. I used to love watching them froth out of the machine, sure they’re not the highest quality but we loved how sweet they were and how adult we felt when we got to have one. So I wanted to make a cupcake to remind me of those days. I love a recipe that take me back, don’t you?
As I’ve gotten older, coffee and espresso isn’t something that really appeals to me as a beverage. I think when I was a kid I always wanted it because I knew it was something I really wasn’t supposed to have. Sure, I can appreciate a good latte and I can pair coffee until the cows come home, but I’m not one of those people who NEEDS their coffee. However, I do LOVE the essence of coffee in desserts, it tends to add a depth that no other ingredient can reach.
I was so glad I stuck it out and made that fourth batch of cupcakes, because these were the result. They were fluffy with a light note of coffee, and then there was the frosting! The Frosting! The frosting was pure money (those are my husband’s words for it), so delicious and one that I will be using over and over again! As you can see I also got them done in time to capture some great shots. But enough with the eye candy, let’s get to that recipe!
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 Box Duncan Hines White Cake Mix
- 3.9 oz. Package Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
- 4 Egg Whites
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
- 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 tbsp Coffee Extract
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
Frosting:
- 1 cup 2 sticks Unsalted Butter (room temp)
- 4-5 cups Confectioners' Sugar
- 1 cup French Vanilla Cappuccino Powder
- 2 tsp Coffee Extract
- 4-5 tbsp Heavy Cream
- 1/8 cup Instant Espresso Grounds
Instructions
Cupcake:
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Line cupcake pan.
- Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer and beat until combined.
- Fill cupcake liners 1/2 - 2/3 full.
- Reduce heat to 375 F.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until toothpick comes clean.
- Remove from oven and transfer cupcakes to cooling racks to finish cooling.
Frosting:
- Cream butter in a stand mixer or use a hand held mixer.
- Add confectioners' sugar a 1/2 cup at a time until combined.
- Add in french vanilla cappuccino powder and coffee extract.
- Add in heavy cream a tbsp at a time until you reach desired consistency.
- Transfer to a piping bag or decorator tool and frost cooled cupcakes.
- Sprinkle the top of the frosting with a little instant espresso powder.
Notes
Some readers have experienced sinking cupcakes while others, like myself have had great success. I will be retesting this recipe soon, but I recommend baking the cupcakes according to package instructions and adding in the coffee extract until then for best results.
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Julie says
I don’t have instant espresso on hand for the frosting, is there a substitute I could use?
Rebecca Hubbell says
I would just skip it.
Rebekah says
Love the cupcake. It’s literally melt in your mouth!! I didn’t have any problems with them sinking either. But the frosting is just terrible. It’s too gritty with the powdered cappuccino mix. It’s really bad no matter how much cream I added or how much I beat it, the grit never came out. So overall very disappointing because the frosting is what really caught my eye with this recipe. Maybe putting the cappucinno mix in the processor and pulsing until very fine would make a huge difference, but bleh just adding it straight up. Also, the coffee extract made my frosting darker than i would have liked unless there is a clear coffee extract that I’m not aware of. Anyways, flavors are on point with this one but the frosting is absolutely not right. Sad 🙁
STEPHANIE says
I probably shouldn’t ask this but since I had 4 of these in one sitting I’m feeling rather guilty about it. So… dare I ask how many calories are in one of these, minus the frosting?
Rebecca says
Haha… I honestly don’t know. When it comes to cupcakes I try to just live in denial of the calories 😉