Baking: Ca Phe Suda Cupcakes!

This post is for you, Rowena!
Now for the longest time, I've been reading this recipe for ca phe suda cupcakes over and over again. If I could only drink one type of coffee for the rest of my life, I would pick ca phe suda without a second thought. It's dark and sweet, and absolutely intoxicating poured over vanilla gelato. I've had the site with the recipe booked for nearly a year and every so often I'd click on it and think, "okay, I'm going to make them this weekend." But I never did. Because, well, you know, excuses, excuses.

Baked cupcakes, waiting to be filled and frosted

And then while I was in Chinatown last week, I picked up Cafe Du Monde coffee grounds, the drip filter, and sweetened condensed milk. I noted my purchase in a recent post, hoping that it would help prevent me from finding another excuse to put these cupcakes aside. But I really doubt I would have made them this weekend if it were not for Rowena's comment, "I hope you do post on ca phe suda cupcakes!" Simple. But straightforward. And friendly! That's all it took to convince me. Sometimes you need an extra push from someone other than yourself! :)

Cupcakes filled with sweetened condensed milk pudding

They took quite a bit of time to make, but it was all well worth it. I brewed the coffee super strong, and used three times more coffee grounds than what the original recipe called for. I wanted the ca phe suda flavor to come through clear and strong. The baked and cooled cupcakes were filled with a sweetened condensed milk pudding, simply made from gelatin and sweetened condensed milk. I cut a little cube out from each cupcake, filled it with a bit of pudding, chopped off the bottom half of the cube, and replaced the top half on the cupcake. Cheryl at Cupcake Bakeshop is amazing, I'm forever in awe of the variety of cupcakes she invents - who would have ever thought to incorporate the condensed milk into the cupcake as a pudding?!

Finished cupcakes...topped with freshly whipped cream and coffee grounds

I finished the cupcakes with swirls of lightly sweetened whipped cream and a dusting of coffee grounds. Such darling little babies! Our little family of four consumed over half the bitty cupcakes for a post lunch treat and refrigerated the rest. A few hours later my mom had a couple more, and what do you know, they taste even better cooled in the fridge - the ca phe suda flavor is a bazillion times more intense. So �cheers� to an afternoon treat, and finally accomplishing one of the items on my �baking to-do list!� And Thank You to Chockylit for this super awesome recipe!