White Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes – take two
This month’s Cupcake Hero theme is Coffee in honor of host Laurie’s husband Jaos and his upcoming birthday (Happy Birthday Jaos!) I heard that one of their favorite treats at Starbucks is a white chocolate mocha. I already took one shot at a white chocolate mocha cupcake. I wasn’t happy with the white-chocolate-mochaness of it, so here’s my second try.
These cupcakes definitely taste like a white chocolate mocha. The cake is similar to an angel food cake with espresso powder in the batter. They have a subtle coffee flavor. I added some espresso over the top of the cupcakes to keep them moist and intensify the coffee flavor.
The white chocolate mousse didn’t bring enough white chocolate flavor to the table, so I also added a small layer of melted white chocolate. After quite a few different tries, this combination hit the white-chocolate-mocha flavor I was searching for. Hubby and I both couldn’t stop eating them!
Coffee Cupcakes – makes 30 – from Crazy about Cupcakes
12 large egg whites, cold
3 Tbsp espresso, at room temperature
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp ground espresso beans
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 325. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
In a large bowl combine the egg whites, espresso, lemon juice, cream of tartar, vanilla, and almond extract. With an electric mixer on high speed, beat until mixture is foamy with tiny bubbles, 2-3 minutes. Gradually add 3/4 cup of the sugar until the foam is creamy white. Do not overbeat.
In a separate bowl combin 3/4 cup sugar, flour, ground espresso beans, and salt.
Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Gently mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until completely integrated.
Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan. 
White Chocolate Mousse – from FoodNetwork.com
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup egg whites (from about 4 eggs)
2 tablespoons sugar
In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat just until it boils.
Immediately turn off the heat. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Strain into another bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, remove the mixture from the refrigerator and, using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or a hand mixer, whip it into fluffy, soft peaks. Return to the refrigerator.
In a clean dry bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add the sugar and continue whipping until glossy and stiff, about 30 seconds more. Fold into the white chocolate mixture.
To assemble cupcakes:
Poke holes into the cupcakes with a fork or toothpick. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of room temperature espresso on top of each cupcake.
Melt 8 ounces of white chocolate in a double boiler. Spread about 1 teaspoon of white chocolate on top of the cupcakes.
Using a small cookie scoop or a piping bag, scoop the mousse on top of the white chocolate.
Garnish with white chocolate curls and sprinkle with cinnamon.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Oh wow, I don’t think I’ve had an oatmeal cream pie in FOREVER, but I’m sure I’d love a homemade version. Definitely adding these to the list! 🙂
Sues
I used to love those oatmeal cream cookies when I was growing up to! I haven’t had one in over ten years and this recipe brought so many memories back!
awesome! My grandparents are in town for the weekend and always have Little Debbie cream pies at their house – might have to try to whip these up this weekend because I bet they would love it!
Those things look amazing! 🙂
And i would like to give a shoot out to the One-year ago link “Best Dang Thing You Ever Tasted Bars”= the name says it all!
I’ve never one either, which is clearly why I ought to make these for myself.
i LOVE oatmeal cream pies and haven’t had one forever, but a homemade one… that’s worth trying out!
Be still my heart (it’s fluttering). This is the most satisfying cookie of all time and yours looks absolitely perfect.
These look great Jen!
These look AMAZING!!
Oh my, such a childhood favorite!!! They look fabulous!!!
Are we the same person? My senior year (in high school AND college) I was the co-yearbook editor and ate a disgusting amount of these. FYI the off-brand ones are terrible. I made that mistake during one 3am deadline. I’m definitely making these soon!!
You’ve totally made my day with this post! I’ve been searching for the perfect oatmeal cream pie recipe forever, ever since a former coworker of mine brought in her version and wouldn’t share the recipe! I’ve tried other recipes but it’s always the cream portion that ends up being different or disappointing. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Ahh… the yearbook memories. I can’t believe how many of those we ate. If only that metabolism was still in place!
I so need to make these! I was totally obsessed with the Sara Lee oatmeal cream pies when I was in high school, and I can only imagine they are WAY better when you make them yourself! Yum. 🙂
I used to live on those pies! I used to love those things. This has been on my list to make for awhile- Everyday Food by Martha had something similar in this months magazine!
Ooooh those were a childhood lunchbox staple for me! Fun 🙂
Oh wow, I’m saving this recipe – I also used to love oatmeal cream pies!
I just made these this weekend and they are a HIT in my house! Oh, and they’re way better than the boxed kind. Thanks for sharing!
These look great! The oatmeal pies were one of my favorite Little Debbie snacks. I bet the homemade version is a million times better!
i used to love these!! i bet they’re heads and shoulders above what i remember 🙂
Definitely bookmarking these! They look amazing!
My husband might love you more than me after this. His favorite cookie is the oatmeal cream pie!
I love the Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies but after one or two you really notice how “processed” they taste. I finally had time to make these late Friday night and they came out quite yummy! They were great with coffee in the morning and we just had some for dessert at a family dinner (we’re even talking about making them for our sister-in-law’s baby shower and coloring the filling).
I do have two tips. One – make the cookies first. I had read about the filling setting as it rested, so I figured I’d do that first, but that was a mistake. By the time I was ready to fill the cookies the cream was more like marshmallow and I had to mix in some corn syrup to thin it back up. Two – keep a close eye on your first few batches of cookies until you get the timing down. My oven is low quality but predictable; however these cookies still seemed to vary batch-to-batch, with the average about 4-5 minutes. However, even the ones that were a little dark on the bottom still tasted good.
Good point Sarah – Definitely make the cookies first. They have to completely cool prior to filling them anyways.
Gah! I wish I would have read these comments before I started! Sarah – my oven was the same as yours. Five minutes per batch of cookies was plenty. I left my first batch in for over ten… oops!
Aside from the 12 cookies that went straight to the garbage can, these were INCREDIBLE. I still can’t get over how chewy they are. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
I made these for a family beach trip two years ago and they were AMAZING. They are very good the day you make them but if you can wait a day before eating…ooooh my goodness. Eat your heart out, Little Debbie. I’m headed back to the beach this coming week with some girlfriends and decided to bring these again. I cannot wait!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:27 pm
So glad you enjoyed these!!