mocha cupcake

And now for a break from the deluge of fall spices...

It is Martha Stewart Cupcake Club time, and this month's pick is MOCHA CUPCAKES.

I am a sucker for beautiful photos and Martha has always had amazing photos in her magazines and books. I remember how her photos stood apart from other shelter/lifestyle magazines when she first came out with Martha Stewart Living in 1990. They were styled, lit and nuanced differently and gorgeously.

So, it is the photo of the mocha cupcake which enticed me to make it. I was captivated by the frosting. Yes. Frosting.

coffee and chocolate chip shortbread

"'Tis the season" in my book means "time to try new cookie recipes," and I've found one by Sarah Leah Chase that I think you'll enjoy.

I was first introduced to Sarah in July of 1988.  The Sister inscribed Sarah's The Nantucket Open-House Cookbook to me— "Have fun cooking, experimenting and pigging out ☺"  Happily, I'm still doing all three.  Then last Christmas, she gave me Sarah's follow-up cookbook, Cold-Weather Cooking, which has many lovely recipes.  This shortbread is one of them.  (The book was published in 1990; you'll have to ask The Sister why it took her twenty years to get it into my hands.)

After trying the Coffee Toffee Chocolate Chip cookie, I was pretty sure I would enjoy it in a bar version. What's not to like with a Toll House, Starbucks and Walker's shortbread combo?

coffee and a coffee toffee chocolate cookie

The Sister brought home a bag of excellent Blue Bottle Coffee, chosen solely because of this description:


As a brewed coffee, the Amaro Gayo is a remarkable sonata of baking spices and aromatic woods. Imagine a grand piano. Now imagine playing a descending F major arpeggio over several octaves.  Now imagine that, instead of sounds, the piano produces alternating aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg, cedar, and maple. Now imagine buying a bag, going home, and making a careful pourover of the Amaro Gayo.  Optional: imagining slippers, the Times’ Style section, grapefruit macarons, and napping Irish Setters.  


Sonata? Arpeggios? Piano? How could I not enjoy this coffee? If only my piano would emanate lovely scents...


She also brought a bag of cookie mix.  Generally, I shy away from cookie mixes, but this was not just any cookie mix.  Behold, The Sister's favorite cookie in the Bay Area: 

The Coffee Toffee Chocolate Cookie

from teacake bake shop

Our mission: dissect the mix, determine the amount of each ingredient and create a copycat cookie.

Fortunately, the ingredients were relatively easy to separate and break-down.  The mix was a close relative of the chocolate chip cookie, with a few oats thrown in.