Pumpkin Spiced Latte Cupcakes with Coffee and Vanilla Mascarpone Frosting

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Incredibly soft and fluffy coffee cupcakes infused with pumpkin spice and topped with lashings of smooth and silky coffee and vanilla mascarpone frosting. What a wonderful way to celebrate coffee week in the UK!!

Coffee is one of my favourite flavours in a cake. Or cookies. Or desserts. Apart from perhaps adding chocolate and having a mocha option, I don’t normally play around with this glorious flavour. However, having made a batch of Pumpkin Spice Mix the other day, and reading how popular Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes are at this time of year, I though I’d try the combination out. At the weekend I whipped up a loaf cake (using this same recipe) and was blown away – it was divine and disappeared so quickly! I just couldn’t stop eating it! The flavours work so well together and I really felt like I had hit the jackpot!

On Monday, I was meeting a friend for lunch whose daughter was turning 21. I wanted to make some special cakes for her and I just knew that these would be perfect. So I whipped up another batch – this time as cupcakes. This mixture makes 9 cupcakes – I had to cut one in half for the photographs – shame, another one for me!

How to make Pumpkin Spiced Latte Cupcakes with Coffee and Vanilla Mascarpone Frosting

This cake recipe is based on my Butter and Oil Cakes – Core Recipe. The only changes I made to the recipe were to use all soft brown sugar, rather than a mix of soft brown and caster, and to add the Pumpkin Spice Mix and instant coffee powder. Take a look at the Core Recipe to get lots of ideas for similar cakes.

Collect all your ingredients together for the Pumpkin Spiced Latte Cupcakes:

• unsalted butter, cubed
• plain/all-purpose flour
• cornflour
• pumpkin spice mix
• fine salt
• baking powder
• bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
• light brown sugar
• vegetable oil
• large egg
• vanilla extract
• instant coffee powder
• milk
• natural yoghurt

Now make the cupcakes:

1. Using a microwave safe mixing bowl, melt the butter in a microwave. Leave to cool a little whilst you collect all the remaining ingredients together. Alternatively, melt the butter in a saucepan on the hob.
2. Add the dry ingredients: flour, cornflour, pumpkin spice mix and salt. Then add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda directly on top of the flour.
3. Add the remaining ingredients: sugar
4. Oil
5. Eggs and vanilla extract
6. Coffee powder
7. Milk and yoghurt
8. Beat with an electric or balloon whisk until incorporated – be careful not to over-mix. It should take 30 seconds to a minute and you may need to stop half way to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
9. The batter is quite liquidy. The easiest way to transfer the cake batter to the cake cases is by pouring it. I use a mixing bowl with a spout or you could transfer to a jug. Fill each cupcake case ⅔ full, roughly 50g – 60g per cake – depending on how tall you like the cakes to be. I like 50g so there is plenty of space for frosting!
10. Cook in a preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until cooked.
11. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes and then transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

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Collect all your ingredients together Coffee and Vanilla Mascarpone Frosting:

• unsalted butter, at room temperature
• icing sugar
• instant coffee powder
• salt
• vanilla extract
• mascarpone cream cheese, at room temperature

Now make the frosting:

I often make the frosting when the cakes are in the oven but you must not frost the cakes until they are completely cold. If you make the icing in advance, give it a good stir before frosting the cakes.

1. Put the softened butter into the bowl of your electric whisk and add half the icing sugar, the instant coffee powder and the salt.
2. Fold the icing sugar in with a spoon before whisking – this will help to stop the icing sugar clouding up and making a mess of your kitchen!
3. Beat with an electric whisk until light and fluffy.
4. Add the remaining icing sugar and the vanilla extract.
5. Fold in and then beat until light and fluffy – it can take 3 – 4 minutes to get really fluffy.
6. Add the mascarpone cheese.
7. Beat until mixed in thoroughly but do not over-mix.
8. When the cakes have completely cooled, frost them. You can either divide the frosting between the cakes and use a knife or spoon to cover the tops, or you can fill a piping bag with the cream and pipe it on the top of each cake.
9. Sprinkle the tops of each cake with a little Pumpkin Spice Powder.

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodilkitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.