These cupcakes represent me and my life as a Texas Cattle Rancher: Start with a little coffee, finish with a little Bourbon...they're "a little sweet, a little spicy, and easy on the eyes"!
Ingredients
Cupcakes
1 ¾ Flour
2 C Sugar
¾ C Cocoa
2 t Baking Soda
1 t Baking Powder
1 t Kosher Salt
1 t Chipotle Powder
1 C Buttermilk
1/3 C + 1 T Vegetable Oil, or any flavorless oil
2 Eggs
1 t Vanilla
8 oz brewed hot Coffee
Bourbon Chocolate Frosting
1 C Butter, at room temperature
6 C Powdered Sugar, sifted
11/3 C Cocoa
1 T Vanilla
2/3 C, less 2 T Milk
2 T Bourbon of your choice (can adjust ratio of milk/bourbon according to taste to equal 2/3 C)
Spicy Candied Pecans
4 T Butter
4 T Brown Sugar
1 oz Bourbon (not the cheap stuff)
½-1 t Chipotle Powder (depending upon your preferred level of heat)
2 C Pecan Halves
Garnish
Mini Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
Instructions
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 345°F. Line cupcake pans with paper cupcake liners.
In large mixing bowl, sift together Flour, Sugar, Cocoa, Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Salt. Whisk ingredients together by hand.
In medium mixing bowl, combine Buttermilk, Oil, Eggs, Vanilla and Coffee.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and GENTLY mix batter until combined. Do not overmix or beat, as this will cause cupcakes to be tough.
Fill cupcake liners about ½ - 2/3 full and bake for 13 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
Cool on cooling racks.
Frosting
In large mixing bowl or bowl of stand mixer, beat room temperature Butter until lightly fluffy.
Add sifted Powdered Sugar 1 spoonful at a time and mix well.
Slowly add Cocoa, Vanilla, Milk, and Bourbon, scraping sides of bowl as you mix, until combined.
Turn mixer on medium high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.
If frosting is too thick, add Milk or Heavy Cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches desired consistency.
Put frosting into piping bag with large round tip, and starting at outer edge of cooled cupcake, pipe frosting in circular motion, building to a peak in the center of cupcake.
Pecans
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In saute pan or small skillet, melt Butter over medium high heat.
Add Brown Sugar and cook until bubbly.
Add Chipotle powder and Bourbon and saute until bubbly again.
Add Pecans and saute just until coated thoroughly.
Spread Pecans, top up, evenly in a single layer over parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake at 350°F for about 5 minutes, being careful not to burn.
Cool and place in storage container. Leftovers make great snacks, ice cream topping, etc.
Garnish
Sprinkle about 6-8 Mini Chocolate Chips over each cupcake.
Top with 1 Pecan Half in center of each cupcake.
Just before serving, crumble, very sparingly, Maldon Sea Salt flakes over each cupcake (salt will melt into frosting for an undesirable effect if you sprinkle with salt and allow to sit for too long before serving).