Coffee and Condensed Milk Cupcakes

I got inspired to make this one by Cupcake Bakeshop. The recipe is simple enough and very tasty. I haven't had good Vietnamese coffee in a while, so I thought I'd try it out :)

I used the same recipe to make the cake, but I omitted the pudding and used condensed milk buttercream as frosting. The overall result was very intense. The coffee taste came out nicely, without being too strong. The buttercream could have been more flavorful. Next time I will put the whole can of milk.

For the cake base, I thought 2 cups of sugar was too much, so I reduced it to 1 cup, then added 3 tablespoon of milk to retain the same moisture. My cake was lighter in color than Chockylit's, maybe because I didn't use Viet Coffee. The taste of coffee is still very much present.

Condensed Milk Buttercream


Ingredients:
5 egg yolks
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks ~250g), at room temperature
1/2 can condensed milk (~150ml)

• In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until they become foamy and thick. This takes about 2 minutes with a hand-held mixer.

• Boil the condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Careful here, the milk burns quite easily.

• Add the hot condensed milk to the egg yolks gradually while beating with your mixer. Beat until the mixture has cooled down.

• In another bowl, beat butter with a wooden spoon until it has become creamy and light. Combine the egg mixture and stir well.

• Refrigerate the cream for 5-10 minutes before spreading if it is too soft for decorating.
  

If you want to make the buttercream in advance, I suggest you keep it at the warmest place of your fridge, because once it becomes cold, it will become hard like butter. The best is to use it right away and consume it quickly. Otherwise, take your cupcakes out of the fridge 10-15 minutes before serving. The cream will remain soft and uniform after refrigeration.