Mocha Valencia Cupcakes from One Bowl Baking

Coffee + chocolate + orange has to be the best flavor combination in the world, although I might make an exception for chocolate + peanut butter or chocolate + cinnamon (I'm sensing a theme.)  Starbucks used to have a drink called a Mocha Valencia, which was this blissful combination of mocha and orange.  I had an even more favorite version at Coffee People, a place in Portland that has changed hands too many times since the time I loved it - there, they had a Cappuccino Borgia that was a similar flavor combination.

When I looked through One Bowl Baking by Yvonne Ruperti, the recipe for Mocha Valencia Cupcakes really jumped out and grabbed me.  She had a similar story - she bemoaned the loss of the Mocha Valencia at Starbucks and tried to recreate it in a cupcake.  I had to make them too.  The cupcakes are a moist chocolate cake with coffee and orange, and the topping is a rich ganache with all the same flavors.  They were a huge hit and I will make them again.

Yvonne Ruperti has worked as a recipe tester and developer at America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated, and these skills come across in the entire book.  Highly recommended!