19 February, 2019

Espresso Martini Cupcakes

Comments : 2 Posted in : Cupcakes, Gin, Recipes, Speciality Coffee on 19/02/2019 by : rachgriff@hotmail.com

The Espresso Martini was created in 1983 by Dick Bradsell at Fred’s Club, London. Legend has it that a young model requested a cocktail that would “wake me up, and then f*** me up”!!! So he created a cocktail containing coffee!

A traditional Espresso Martini contains vodka. To create this cocktail simply combine 40ml vodka, 40ml espresso & 20ml coffee liquer in an ice filled cocktail shaker. Shake well, strain into a chilled Martini glass and garnish with coffee beans. I used Grey Goose Vodka, Coaltown Black Gold No 3 Espresso and Kahlua liquer to create my version of the cocktail. Delicious!

As a gin lover I was keen to find a recipe that substituted vodka for gin! I found just the recipe via Craft Gin Club! Their January box contained a fabulous South American gin called ‘La Republica Amazonica’, and with coffee being one of South America’s biggest exports, it makes perfect sense to combine the two in an Espresso Martini! Craft Gin Club suggested using Pact Coffee’s Fruit & Nut Espresso which originates from Brazil and Colombia. To create this cocktail I combined 30ml of the gin, with 12ml of Kahlua and a double espresso shot. Again, the ingredients are shaken thoroughly in an ice filled cocktail shaker before being strained into a chilled Martini glass and garnished with coffee beans.

If there’s one thing better than an Espresso Martini, then its an Espresso Martini cupcake! Here I have a recipe adapted from the ‘Primrose Bakery Everyday’ cookbook.

Ingredients (to make 12 espresso sponge cupcakes)

• 170g golden caster sugar
• 170g self raising flour
• 20g cornflour
• 170g Stork with butter
• 3 large eggs
• Double espresso shot

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180*C/160*C fan and line a muffin tin with cake cases.
2. Prepare the espresso & leave to cool.
3. Mix together the sugar, flour & cornflour until combined.
4. Add the butter, egg & coffee & mix until combined.
5. Spoon the batter into the cake cases (each case should be 2/3 full).
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
7. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make a ‘vodka soak’ by combining 3 tbsp granulated sugar & 3 tbsp of espresso in a small pan. Bring to the boil on the hob, then turn down the heat & leave to simmer until the mixture has a thick syrupy consistency (this should take 1-2 minutes). Set aside to cool and stir in 3 tbsp of vodka. Pierce each cooled cupcake several times and brush with the vodka soak (repeat twice).

To make a Kahlua buttercream combine 100g unsalted butter, 375g sifted icing sugar, 45ml Kahlua & 1 tsp vanilla extract in a freestanding electric mixer. Mix until smooth. If the buttercream is too stiff, add a little boiling water and continue to mix until the desired consistency is reached. Decorate each cupcake with the icing and top with chocolate coated coffee beans.

This could be my new favourite cupcake!