Brown Butter Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream

To make brown butter:
Cut the butter into small pieces. Place butter pieces into a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. The butter will bubble up. Stir very frequently. The color will begin to change and you’ll see some brown flakes on the bottom of the pan. Continue to stir until the butter has a nutty fragrance and is golden brown. The whole process will take 5-7 minutes. Be patient! When done, remove from heat and set aside.

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, measure flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and whisk together until combined. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the room temperature butter with the granulated sugar and whip the mixture until combined. With the mixer on low speed, stream in the reserved brown butter and mix until combined. Increase the speed and allow it to mix for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture is free of fat streaks. The mixture will be fluffy and a light brown color.

Add the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Mix in the vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk, into the creamed mixture in 3 increments. Mix just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pans. If you prefer to bake as a cake, double the recipe and pour into two 9-inch round pans or one 9×13 cake pan.

Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting the cupcakes.

For the buttercream:
Combine the instant coffee, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl and mash until it resembles sand. If you have a mortar and pestle, it will work great here. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter until smooth. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar slowly and continue to mix until incorporated. Add the vanilla and coffee/cinnamon mixture and combine. Stream in 2 tablespoons of milk and mix well.

If you need a thicker frosting, add more powdered sugar here. If it needs thinned out a little, add more milk.

(Cake adapted from Always with Butter. Buttercream is an original recipe.)