This and that: cupcakes

A while back I was lucky enough to be able to receive coffee from Don Tomas Coffee to use and review. I was so excited when I received it and when I opened the box, the aroma was so wonderful and I envisioned so many things to make with it. I don't drink much coffee anymore but this coffee tasted so wonderful... It had a great robust taste that left no after taste and even when made strong, which is the way I like it, it was great tasting with no after taste.

Heritage Roast ~ courtesy of Don Tomas Coffee

After reading about the company and how they harvested the coffee beans and also helped the community I was very impressed. Don Tomas Coffee is a family operated business that produce high quality coffee beans in Nicaragua. With this they have also invested in building a healthy community. They have built a school, medical center and a place of worship to help their employees. Another awesome thing about this company is that they have a fundraising program, your school/organization will keep 25% of all internet proceeds and 30% of all other proceeds. That sounds good to me and if you are planning on doing some fundraising this may be a good place to start for you.

During my review of this coffee, I served it for company and all that drank enjoyed the robust taste. I also made a couple of specialty coffees with this coffee and loved them. Here are the recipes for these specialty coffees: Pumpkin Spice Latte and Salted Caramel Mocha Latte. Another recipe that I made was my Palpitation cupcakes... The reason I am calling them Palpitation cupcakes is that I used espresso strong coffee to make them. I used 6 heaping tablespoons of coffee to 1.5 cups of water to make the coffee. The cupcakes alone weren't that strong but the frosting gave me palpitation when I tasted it alone. Together they were downright delicious... The review I got for this recipes were" thumbs up". Everyone liked them and didn't think that the coffee was too strong but just right.

Palpitation Cupcakes with Chocolate Espresso Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup eggnog

1/2 cup strong coffee (made mine 6 tbsp ground coffee /1.5 cup water)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp soda

2 tbsp cocoa

1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat butter, sugar and egg together until mixed. Mix in eggnog and coffee. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add vanilla and mix well. Line muffin tin with cupcake holders and fill 3/4. (I was able to make 14 cupcakes). Bake at 350 degrees until toothpick comes clean, approximately 20 -25 minutes. Cool, once cool, apply frosting (recipe below).

Chocolate Espresso Buttercream Frosting

3 tbsp soft butter

1 oz melted chocolate

1/8 cup strong coffee (6 tbsp ground coffee/1.5 cup water)

1/8 cup milk

2-3 cups powdered sugar ( I used just a little less then 3 cups)

Beat butter until soft, add chocolate and continue to beat. Add 2.5 cups powdered sugar and beat until well mixed. Add liquids and continue to beat for a couple of minutes. Adding more powdered sugar until is a stiff consistency.

You may need to eat these with milk.

This weekend on Foodie Friends Friday

we will be having a Coffee Celebration

with

Don Tomas Coffee

You don't want to miss an opportunity of winning some great coffee...

In case you don't win any but still want to try this coffee go to Don Tomas Coffee and use Coupon Code ~ FOODIEFRIENDS for 20% off through January.

This recipe and article was sponsored by Don Tomas Coffee. I was given a pound of coffee to taste and review. The opinion of the coffee was mine and what I observed by the friends that I served it to.

Links: Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Foodie Friday,Sunday's Sweet Confessions