Mocha Latte Cupcakes with Coffee Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I love mocha lattes. I get one every time we go to Starbucks. So when I saw these I was intrigued. I was a little hesitant to make swiss meringue buttercream. First, it's much more complicated than regular buttercream. Second, it would mean unpacking my KA stand mixer. (Yes, I've been married over two years and have not opened her until today. We're very tight on space where we live. But now that she's out, she's out to stay.)

The extra work is oh so worth it. Swiss meringue buttercream is very light, less sweet, and has a whipped cream consistency. I love buttercream, but I really liked the lightness of the swiss meringue buttercream. I'm so happy that I was able to conquer this icing without any problems, especially since it was the first time I used my stand mixer. This icing perfectly complemented the light, moist cupcakes. The cupcakes and icing had a strong coffee flavor, which is what I was looking for in this recipe. I didn't want the chocolate to overpower the coffee flavor. 

Mocha Latte Cupcakes with Coffee Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Source: Living Eventfully
makes about 16

Ingredients:
1 and 1/3 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (I omitted because I used salted butter.)
1/2 cup half & half (I used plain almond milk.)
1/2 cup very strong brewed coffee (room temperature)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 stick butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners.

In one bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda and set aside. Measure out the milk, coffee, and vanilla together into a measuring cup.

In another bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well. Alternately add the flour mixture, then the coffee mixture, ending with the flour mixture.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake about 15 - 18 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Coffee Swiss Meringue Buttercream
6 teaspoons meringue powder
6 tablespoons warm water
3/4 cup sugar
2 sticks butter, cut into 16 pieces (room temperature)
2 - 3 tablespoons strong brewed coffee (room temperature)

In a large heatproof bowl (or stand mixer bowl) combine meringue powder, water, and sugar. Place bowl over saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and transfer to stand mixer.

Using the whisk attachment, whip mixture on high until it holds stiff peaks (about 6 - 7 minutes). Continue beating and add the butter a few pieces at a time. Add coffee. Continue beating until buttercream is thick, smooth, and glossy (about 3 - 5 minutes).
*If mixture starts to look curdled, keep beating.