In college, my friend group had two Chopped competitions. With three rounds, multiple mystery ingredients, and time limits, we followed the show's format to a T. It was such a blast.
For the first competition, my friends Mike and Lee faced off. We weren't actually planning to have a second competition, but during Senior Week, we realized how many leftover ingredients we had to go through before graduating so Maggie and I faced off.
In our dessert round, we were given 30 minutes to put together a dessert using the mystery ingredients: instant coffee, cherry Kool Aid, and brie cheese. Maggie made brie stuffed french toast with a cherry mocha sauce, so I turned to the oven and made a mocha lava cake (read: still slightly uncooked after 30 minutes...). I topped it with brie cheese frosting and garnished it with cherry Kool-Aid spun sugar. Even though it was a bit messy, it was a total hit. Even though it's been nearly three years, I've dreamt of making something like it ever since. That's where these mocha cupcakes come in.
Cake*:
1/2 cup hot water
1 heaping tablespoon coffee powder
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk of your choice (I used soy)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Frosting:
1/2 cup (or more) brie (melted)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Milk of your choice as needed
Spun Kool Aid Sugar**:
1/2 envelope of cherry Kool-Aid powder
1/4 cup of water (plus more as needed)
1/2 cup of sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees;. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
Mix the hot water and instant coffee together, then mix in the oil.
In a large bowl, mix the flour with the sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the water-oil mixture and mix until smooth. Add the egg, the milk, and the vanilla and beat until smooth. Pour the batter into the lined cupcakes tins.
Bake the cupcakes for about 25 minutes/until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool.
Prepare the frosting by beating all three ingredients together. Set in the fridge until you're ready to frost.
To make the Kool Aid spun sugar, combine all three ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the sugar syrup boil for a minute or two, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat. As the sugar cools, it will begin to harden. If it doesn't, it will need to boil longer. When the sugar is close to hardening but still very sticky, take two oiled forks. Pull the sticky sugar up, and then apart with the forks, laying it over a small greased bowl to set and further harden. Repeat.
Pop the spun sugar on top of a frosted cupcake and enjoy!**
*Recipe adapted from Food and Wine
*The sugar while beatiful will begin to melt after 10-20 minutes depending on room temperature, serve/eat immediately.
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