19.6.12

Wake up and Smell the Coffee


Confession Time:
I think I have a coffee addiction. I swear I never meant for this to happen.
Thank you, college professors, for the boat loads of work that forced me to stay up past 2am and wake up at 7am, groggy eyed with nothing but more work in sight and a huuuge cup of coffee to soothe me.

My only slightly embarrassing obsession with Gilmore Girls and watching Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel consume obscene amounts of coffee may have something to do with my addiction as well. Basically what I'm saying is, none of this is my fault. I can't help it if I'm crabby without my morning cup 'a joe. 


You know what is even better than a cup of coffee to wake you up? Coffee cakes. And I don't mean the kind of crumb cake you serve with coffee. I mean coffee-infused cake with chocolate coffee frosting. Oh my goodness. I promise you, these are 100% worth the caffeine crash you'll be having later today. 



Mini Coffee Cakes with Coffee-Fudge Frosting
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup earth balance
1/2 cup boiling strong coffee
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 tsp ener-g egg replacer mixed with 2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla
Frosting:
1/2 cup earth balance
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1-2 tbsp strong coffee

1. Preheat your oven to 350ยบ and lightly grease and flour a cupcake tin. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. Melt the earth balance in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in the coffee and remove from heat. In a measuring cup, whisk together the almond milk and vinegar. Add the egg replacer and vanilla.
3. Pour the coffee and butter into the dry ingredients and stir lightly. Add in the milk mixture and mix until just combined. Divide the batter evenly into your cupcake tin (each will be about 2/3 of the way full) and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Mentally prepare yourself, first. This might be the best and most dangerous frosting I have ever made. 
5. Cream together the earth balance, cocoa powder and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Add in the rest of the sugar and 1 tbsp of coffee and stir until creamy. If the frosting is too thick, mix in another tbsp of coffee. You don't want it too liquified though, it should be a fudge-y consistency.
6. Let the cakes cool for about 20 minutes, then frost and enjoy :)



18 comments:

  1. oohh, me too, me too!!! I really have a coffee addiction!!! and I also have a little ckes addiction! so, this post is perfect to me!!! lovely recipe!

    ps: the smell of coffe in the morning makes me happy, makes me full of life..

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    1. Thanks, donatella! I also love the smell of coffee in the morning. The smell of these little cakes baking is pretty magical as well :)

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  2. Thank you to Ruby's College Professors who caused her to form an addiction to coffee which led to the creation of these little beauties! My husband will love these!

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    1. I will send on the message to them! Haha- thanks Kristy!

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  3. These look irresistibly cute. The Gilmore Girls reference is hilarious because seriously, they make a girl want to drink some coffee. I can't wait to make these for grad school in the fall - when I'm sure I'll become addicted to coffee too. I love your blog, Ruby!

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    1. Thank you, Kelley! I love Gilmore Girls, but after watching it all I want is candy and coffee. Not the most healthy influence...

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  4. These look amazing! And I totally blame Gilmore Girls for my coffee addiction, too :-)

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    1. I know! But it's worth it because that show is great. Thanks, Elana!

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  5. I have always a soft spot for mini cakes and mini versions of anything. This is worth trying. I am sure this would smell great baking from the oven...Yum!

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    1. They do smell pretty amazing! And I love mini things too, ever since I had an obsession with miniature animal figures when I was little. Mini edible things are even better.

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  6. Anonymous20.6.12

    So, I'm not vegan/vegetarian, but these look amazing. Unfortunately I don't think I have access (or cheap access) to some of the ingredients. Would it be possible for you to let me know the more common equivalents of some of the ingredients (particularly ener-g egg replacer)? would the measurements stay the same for almond milk and earth balance if I used milk/margarine? Thanks!

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    1. Absolutely! The measurements are the same for any kind of milk or margarine and if you would like a more common egg replacer, you can use 2 tbsp of cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp of water instead of the ener-g replacer. I am always an advocate of keeping these recipes vegan, but you can also just use one egg as well! Let me know how they turn out for you, if you try!

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  7. Oh wow, those mini coffee cakes look amazing! I would love to have one with a cup of coffee :)

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    1. Thanks Jes! Mm coffee overload- not a bad thing at all.

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  8. Yummers. I had my fingers crossed that you'd mentioned an egg alternative to the egg alternative alternative in the comments because I want to eat these CRAZY BAD and the closest ener-g is an hour away at the health food store.

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    1. That's the problem with that ener-g stuff. I love using it, but corn starch and flax meal can almost always be substituted as well!

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  9. I'll be making these next week! I know they'll be a big hit. Does this recipe make one dozen? Also, can I use cupcake wrappers instead of greasing the pan? Thanks!

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    1. Yes and yes! I hope you enjoy them! The reason I called them mini cakes instead of cupcakes is even though they are fluffy they don't quite fill up a wrapper- they're baby cakes. But you can absolutely use wrappers as well.

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