Cappuccino Muffins
There has been a lull in my baking activity. I didn’t quite plan it but I did feel that I wanted to rest for a while. Last month I actually tried some recipes, took some food pictures along with it and rewrote the recipes. I felt a bit burned after that. I felt a few weeks of not baking anything would be relaxing. It didn’t mean that I didn’t do anything instead. On the contrary, my days had been full of other activities. A week and a half ago, I had a spring break and though the weather was still a bit down my family still enjoyed it. My husband took some time off for the whole week too so we took advantage of walking for a few mornings in a state park near our house. The geese were there already since spring has arrived and they could be found near the beach of Willamette River. We also found trillium flowers and skunk cabbage plants which sprung around springtime in the park. Near the end of the break, we managed to go to Manzanita beach. We didn’t stay for a night but we did walk on the beach and got a great lunch there. All in all, this break from baking proved to be a refreshing charge for me.
Back from a break, I started to think that for some reason I wanted to eat something with coffee flavor in it. I just wanted something simple and quick, and muffin was the choice at that time. This cappuccino muffin had cream cheese topping which was sweetened with a bit of sugar. I love this combination and I hope you too.
Cappuccino Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Cappuccino Topping
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
Muffin Batter
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons finely ground instant coffee granules
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup ground almonds
Finishing touches
Cocoa powder
Before you start, preheat oven to 350 degree F. Place a rack in the middle of the oven. Generously grease the exposed surface (inner sides) of the pan with nonstick spray and use muffin liners on the 12-cup regular muffin pan.
Make the cappuccino topping: beat all the ingredients in a food processor until it is smooth, set aside.
Make the muffin batter: in a mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, liqueur, and coffee granules, and blend well. Stir in the buttermilk and fold the remaining ingredients to make thick but soft batter.
Scoop the batter with a large ice-cream scoop into the lined muffin pan, divide evenly. Top each evenly with cappuccino topping. Bake until topping is set and when you stick skewer down the middle, there’s still moist crumb clings to it, about 25 to 35 minutes.
Cool well and dust with cocoa powder.
Source: adapted from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman
Amanda loves muffins. might try this recipe, prob I should omit the coffee. Thanks for sharing.
i think you can do that, i hope the taste would as good as the original
Comment by Roossy Tirta — April 7, 2009 @ 9:45 pm
kahlua for the icing sounds really good Eliza. Love it, finally muffin for the grown up. Delicious!
Cheers,
elra
thanks Elra, my needs of coffee was satisfied with this recipe indeed
Comment by elra — April 8, 2009 @ 4:52 pm
What a coincidence, i was just craving for coffee flavoured bakes two days ago but i couldn’t find a recipe that would interest me. Now that I see your post, I don’t have to search anymore…I found it! Would definitely give this a try
i hope you find it good, Anne!
Comment by Anne — April 8, 2009 @ 9:44 pm
Asiik ada coffeenya, penggemar kupi niy
. Makasih ucapannya ya Liz, aku blon pernah menang click, yang bulan maret itu menang yg DMBLGIT :D
yaaahhh…ampun deh Ret, sorry ya, sampe salah kasih selamat
bener kamu memang menang DMBLGIT, sekali lagi selamat!
Comment by retno — April 8, 2009 @ 11:28 pm
Like always…. a lovely picture….!
thanks sis!
Comment by yohana — April 10, 2009 @ 9:05 am
I can smell it! The coffee aroma…
oh yeahh….
Comment by tigerfish — April 11, 2009 @ 2:40 am
That sounds like a nice break! This coffee muffin sure hits the right spot!
true, i had a nice break!
Comment by Mrs Ergül — April 12, 2009 @ 3:23 am
muffin emang penyenang hati ya…gw lagi ga masak ga baking, sibuk ngecek flat baru and packing (ga demen packing)
iya gampang dan cepat jadi
ngecheck flat nya belum selesai toh?
Comment by mochachocolatarita — May 6, 2009 @ 1:59 am
These look wonderful! I made café latte muffins recently, which weren’t so dissimilar, and LOVED them. (Haven’t had a chance to blog about them yet – perhaps this weekend?)
nice! i love coffee in my muffins, i better check out your cafe latte muffin then
Comment by Pille — May 21, 2009 @ 10:30 pm