Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting

Hello cupcake lovers! I know that the deliciousness has been MIA the last week, but I do have an excuse, I got a wicked cold on top of my normal seasonal allergies that had me laying on the couch for a couple of days. I would have made cupcakes but I was afraid of:
a- passing out from standing for longer than 5 minutes
b- sneezing all over the cupcakes

Anywho, I got right back to it this weekend when I found the following tasty recipe from a cupcake blogger http://cupcakeblog.com the cupcake link here

I made a few adjustments. I used half the instant espresso powder and used unsweetened shredded coconut instead of flaked sweetened coconut. And, as *almost* always, I came out ahead by 3 cupcakes.

These cupcakes took approximately 2.5 hours from start to finish, cooling time included- not bad!
They were a big hit at work, everyone thought they tasted like a Mounds bar. Yum! The following is how I made them, use the link to see the original recipe.

350F oven, makes *27 cupcakes, or 24 that are slightly big

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cocoa powdered
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1-1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.
Measure the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso powder into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
Measure the milk and vanilla into a measuring cup (or anything else that will make it easy to pour in together.) Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 3/4’s full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Coconut Buttercream Frosting
1-1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 cups coconut, shredded and unsweetened

Beat butter briefly, scrape bowl. Add the sifted powdered sugar and milk. Beat until smooth. Add coconut and mix until combined.

Top cooled cupcakes with coconut-buttercream frosting. Top with more cocoa powder (or forget to if you're like me...)

Once finished, go cuddle with darling puppy and make a mental note to sketch her silhouette some day to hang over your future mantle.

Did I mention that I recommend milk with the cupcakes?
Well I do.
Thanks to this weeks tester, you'll see her review below. I'll let her introduce herself.