Mocha Frappuccino Cupcakes

Just let me premise this by saying...I am a mom and a Coast Guard wife and a craft business owner and a dog mom and a mommy group member...the list goes on.  My house is generally a crazy mess...the laundry is almost never done...and the dishes dont always get done at the end of the day. 

I would love to say that all of my baking is done from scratch with perfect fresh ingredients but that is not always the case.  These recipes are for moms like me who cant always get it together but but want easy recipes and tricks to make it look like they can.

Now I will tell you about the Mocha Frap Cupcakes~!

They are delicious!  The perfect light and fluffy cupcake with the slightest hint of mocha, topped with perfect whipped cream and cinnamon!  I can usually tell if my cupcakes are good by whether or not my husband will eat them because he is super picky!  He loves these!

What you need for the cake:

• One box French Vanilla cake mix
• 3 Eggs
• 1/2 cup cooking oil...I use Canola
• 1 cup Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino Chilled Coffee 
• Cupcake Liners

To make:

Preheat your oven to 350

Combine all of your ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  I used my Kitchenaid mixer because my sweet husband got me one for Christmas and I feel like I need to use it; but before I would have been using a large bowl with a hand-mixer...works great either way.

Mix your ingredients until everything is well blended.  Be sure to scrape your bowl so everything gets incorporated.

Place your cupcake liners into 2 cupcake tins.  This recipe usually makes around 18 cupcakes.

Spoon your batter into the cupcake liners.  I use an ice cream scoop because it gives me the perfect amount of batter, and ensures that my cupcakes end up roughly the same size.

Bake in your 350 oven for 15-20 minutes.  Mine backed for about 18 minutes.

Let cool.

What you need for the Whipped Cream:

• 1 cup heavy cream chilled
• 1 tsp. vanilla (usually I use Mexican Vanilla but I am out and far away from Texas...if anyone wants to send any that would be AWESOME and I would be eternally grateful!)
• 1-2 tbls. granulated sugar

To Make:

Chill your bowl and whisk in the freezer.  I left mine in there for around 5 mins.

Add your heavy cream to the bowl and start whisking at a medium-high speed.

Add the vanilla and then the sugar.  I only added one tbls. but if you want your whipped cream to be sweeter, you can add the second.

Whisk until soft peaks start to form and your whipped cream looks smooth and silky.  Usually takes around 5 minutes depending on how chilled your bowl and cream are.

It is important not to over-whisk.  I over-whisked this batch just a bit and it is not as smooth as it should be.

I made a batch the other day that I didnt over-mix and it was smooth and silky.

Can you see the difference?

What you need to frost the cupcakes:

• A piping bag (I didnt have any on hand so I just used a ziplock, works just as well)
• A frosting tip (I used a Wilton #1M star tip)
• Your whipped cream

How to frost:

Cut off one of the corners of the bag.  Be sure not to cut off too much or your tip will just slide all the way through.

Place your tip in the bag and push it through the hole until it fits tightly.

Add your whipped cream to the bag and close, but leave a small corner open so any excess air can leave the bag.

I piped a spiral on top of my cupcakes. You can see how in this video.  I always start at the edge and work my way in to the middle,but some people start in the middle and work thier way toward the edge.  Be sure and keep steady pressure on the bag the entire time you are piping. 

My husband loves Cinnamon on top of his Mocha Frapps so I sprinkle Cinnamon on top of the frosted cupcakes to finish them.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

and this is what my husband let our son do as I wrote this post!