Preheat oven to 350°. Line cupcake pans with 30 cupcake liners

Whisk together coffee and cocoa in a small bowl and set aside. Sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder in another small bowl and set aside. Measure out buttermilk and mix with vanilla extract and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar and salt. Add eggs, one at a time, beating each egg in thoroughly and scraping the side of the bowl before adding the next egg.

Add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined. Add ½ of the buttermilk and mix until combined.

Repeat, ending with the last of the flour mixture.

Add the cocoa and coffee mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Fold in mayonnaise.

Divide equally into prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 16-18 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool thoroughly on wire racks before frosting with Vanilla Bean Icing (below).

For the icing, whip the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer until soft and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. I like to use the whisk attachment for my mixer.

Reduce speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Beat for 3 minutes on high speed. Mixture will be very thick.

Add vanilla and 2 tablespoons milk. Beat until nice creamy consistency is reached. You made need to add more milk, add just a teaspoonful at a time until desired consistency is reach. You want a cream but fairly stick consistency if you're planning on piping the icing. If spreading with a knife, the icing can be a bit thinner. Beat for another 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl several times during mixing.

Ice with a knife or pipe on icing with a decorating bag and tip. For the cupcakes pictured, I used a 2D Wilton tip, also known as a flower tip. I start in the center and slowly (so the icing can ruffle a bit) work my way to the outside edges of the cupcake and the back to the center.

Yields 30 cupcakes