These Coffee Cupcakes with Caramel Filling are the bomb. A wonderful coffee flavor from both the cupcake and the frosting, plus an ooey gooey center of caramel to complete this magical treat.
Do you love a great cupcake? Try not only our Coffee Cupcakes of today but these Festive Gingerbread Cupcakes for a punch of holiday flavor. You may also like our Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Helpful Items For This Recipe
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Wilton Piping Tips Decorating Kit, 9-Piece Set with Carrying Case, Steel
Standard Size Baking Cups, Food-Grade Greaseproof Paper Liners 200 Pcs (Natural)
What Goes into these Cupcakes?
The cupcake ingredients are pretty straightforward; there are extra egg whites to keep them light and fluffy. We kept it easy for the filling; I used a store-bought dulce de leche caramel filling.
For the icing, we changed it up from a coffee buttercream which can be very rich, and we already have the caramel filling, to a light whipped cream frosting. The frosting is also flavored with coffee giving this dessert a real homage to the coffee lover.
Ingredients
Coffee Cupcakes:
Warm milk
Instant coffee granules
Sugar, granulated white
All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Salt
Unsalted butter, softened
Medium eggs
Egg whites
Caramel Filling:
Store-bought caramel (dulce de leche) of your choice (I used Nestle Dulce de leche). Do not use caramel syrup as it will seep into the cupcake; it needs to be thicker. (See below for alternative fillings).
Coffee Frosting:
Double or whipping cream, chilled and divided
Cappuccino powder
Instant coffee granules
Icing sugar or powdered sugar sifted
Also, you will need the following equipment.
Equipment
Mixing bowls
Hand mixer
12-cup Muffin/cupcake pan
Apple corer or cupcake corer
1 icing bag
Wilton tip of your choice
How to Make Coffee Cupcakes
Coffee Cupcakes:
Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake liners.
In a small saucepan/bowl, combine instant coffee and milk until the coffee is fully dissolved. You might need to heat the milk. Set aside to cool until warm or at room temperature.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Add the butter, and using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Then add the egg whites and eggs to the coffee-infused milk (cooled) and whisk together.
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix until you get a smooth batter with no lumps.
Divide the batter between the 12 liners.
Bake for about 22-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Remove the cupcakes from the tin and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Coffee Frosting:
In a microwave-safe bowl, heat 100 ml of the double cream with cappuccino powder and instant coffee granules (about 15-20 seconds) until dissolved. Set aside to cool completely.
Whip the remaining double cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form, using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or hand mixer.
Add the coffee cream, 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking continuously on medium speed. Add as much as desired for taste and consistency.
Assembling the Coffee Cupcakes:
Use an apple corer or an actual cupcake corer to create a hole in the middle of each cooled cupcake. Fill each cupcake with caramel.
Transfer the coffee frosting to a piping bag (use your choice of piping tip) and decorate the tops of the cupcakes.
Top with 2-3 coffee beans for each cupcake, if desired.
Enjoy!
Faqs and Tips
As these cupcakes have fresh cream, they need to be kept in an airtight container in the fridge.
Store 3-4 days in a closed container in a cool, dry place.
Prepare the frosting exactly as described above. If you whip the coffee cream together with the rest of the cream and sugar, you will end with a split frosting.
Adding coffee to the batter makes the cupcakes extra fluffy and delicate. To make these cupcakes gluten-free, use a gluten-free flour blend.
It is easier to use store-bought caramel sauce; however, you can make it at home from scratch but don’t use caramel syrup as you would for ice cream as it is too thin and will seep into your cupcakes and leave an empty hole.
Can you Freeze These Caramel-filled Cupcakes?
The cupcakes themselves will freeze perfectly, but a whipped cream frosting does not fair well when thawing. So my make-ahead solution is to bake the cupcakes ahead of time and freeze them in an airtight container. Then fill with the caramel sauce and frost and serve.
Additional Filling Ideas
You can try other filling ideas for these cupcakes if you like, or no filling at all. Some additional ideas are as follows:
Peanut Butter – smooth or crunchy.
Another Butter – think almond, cashew, hazelnut, etc.
Nutella – chocolate, hazelnut, and coffee go great together or just chocolate spread.
Candy – crushed Skor bar, Reese peanut butter cups chopped, Butterfinger chopped, or bar your choice.
Jam – many berry flavors go well with coffee.
Spiced Cream Cheese – mix spreadable cream cheese with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and more.
Pin it HERE!!
Pin it HERE!!
Coffee Cupcakes with Caramel Filling
Ingredients
Coffee Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup 120 ml warm milk
- 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
- 1 ½ cups 204 g all-purpose flour
- 1 cup graunlated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 oz 130 g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 medium eggs
- 2 egg whites
Caramel Filling
- ¾ cup store bought caramel dulce de leche of your choice ( I used Nestle Dulce de leche)
Coffee Frosting
- 300 ml double or whipping cream chilled and divided
- 4 ½ tablespoons cappuccino powder
- 2 ½ teaspoons instant coffee granules
- ¾ cup icing sugar sifted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In a small saucepan/bowl, combine instant coffee and milk until the coffee is fully dissolved. You might need to heat the milk. Set aside to cool until warm or at room temperature.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the butter, and using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the egg whites and eggs to the coffee-infused milk (cooled) and whisk together.
- Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix until you get a smooth batter with no lumps.
- Divide the batter between the 12 liners.
- Bake for about 22-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the cupcakes from the tin and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Coffee Frosting:
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat 100 ml of the double cream with cappuccino powder and instant coffee granules (about 15-20 seconds) until dissolved. Set aside to cool completely.
- Whip the remaining double cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form, using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or hand mixer.
- Add the coffee cream, 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking continuously on medium speed. Add as much as desired for taste and consistency.
- Follow these directions carefully for optimal results.
Assembling the Coffee Cupcakes:
- Use an apple corer or an actual cupcake corer to create a hole in the middle of each cooled cupcake. Fill each cupcake with caramel.
- Transfer the coffee frosting to a piping bag (use your choice of piping tip) and decorate the tops of the cupcakes.
- Top with 2-3 coffee beans for each cupcake, if desired.
- Enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
Twilla says
I don’t see how much sugar to use listed in your ingredients
Tara Noland says
It is 1 cup, sorry for the omission.