Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes!

With it being the time of year it is, there is one flavor I naturally gravitate towards--mint. Whether it be in a Ho-Ho Mocha from Caribou or Candy Cane Jo-Jo's from Trader Joes--I love it all! So of course, I had to try my hand at peppermint cupcakes. Oh yah, and of course they had to be chocolate too...So after some searching for the perfect recipe, I found this one. I made some modifications as I went, and used SMBC with peppermint extract as the frosting.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup cooled, strong coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with liners. In a large bowl stir the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Make a well and pour in the eggs, coffee, buttermilk and oil. Mix until smooth. Fill liners about 2/3 full. Bake until top springs back, about 20-25 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to cool completely.

Candy Cane White Chocolate Ganache

14 oz white chocolate (not almond bark--make sure there is cocoa butter in the ingredient list.)2/3 cup heavy cream
8 candy canes, crushed

*Make sure the candy canes are really crushed, or they won't be able to fit through your decorator tip when filling the cupcakes.

Place white chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat heavy cream until simmering, then pour over white chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Allow to cool, then add the crushed candy canes.

Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Follow the instructions here.

Once cupcakes are completely cool and filling is completely cool, use a medium sized round tip and fill the cupcakes with the ganache. Frost with Peppermint SMBC and decorate as you wish--I used red and white crystal sprinkles and crushed candy canes. Enjoy, and take a bite!

Cupcakes!

cupcakes.

They may be one of the most wonderful things in the world! Little cupcake shops with literally gazillions of flavors are a huge trend right now...and I know many people are hoping this isn't just a trend.

Personally, I love making cupcakes because they are so easy to experiment with. I can try new ideas and flavor combinations without having to go through the whole process of making a layer cake. They are also great to have at a party or get-together as they're pretty easy to eat and not that messy. So naturally, a cupcake recipe is the first recipe I will share. It is my "latest and greatest". I have made these cupcakes for a friends birthday, as Valentine's Day party at work, as "valentine's" for my friends when I visited in Ames, and I will be making them for a wedding in April. Sometimes I make the batter from scratch; other times I use a cake mix, especially if I'm short on time.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Batter using Cake Mix:

1 white cake mix

3 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with liners. Combine cake mix, eggs, oil, and buttermilk until completely mixed. Gently stir in white chocolate chips. Fill liners about 2/3 full (using an ice cream scoop works well for me!) Bake for 17-19 minutes, until golden brown

Homemade Batter:

White Chocolate Chip Vanilla Buttermilk Cake, adapted from Sky High

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 cup sugar

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup buttermilk

2 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line cupcake pans with liners. Combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Blend on low for 30 seconds. Add butter and buttermilk. Whisk eggs and vanilla together and then add in 2-3 additions to batter. Gently stir in white chocolate chips. Fill each cup approximately 2/3 full. Bake for 17-19 minutes, until golden brown.

Allow to cool completely, you can also make these in advance and freeze them until ready to fill and frost.

Raspberry Filling:

This makes about 4 cups. You won't need that much to fill all the cupcakes (will probably need about half). BUT, this is yummy over ice cream, mixed with fruit, and some other desserts (hopefully one of which I will post about soon), so it's okay to make the full batch :)

16 oz frozen raspberries

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup water

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. Raspberry liquor (optional)

Place frozen raspberries in a bowl and allow to thaw. Mash until no big pieces are left. In a saucepan, whisk together sugar, water, and cornstarch. Add raspberries. Heat to boiling over medium high heat, stirring as necessary. Boil and stir for an additional 1-2 minutes. Turn heat to low and add lemon juice and raspberry liquor. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes. Strain through a mesh strainer if you don't want seeds in your sauce. Allow to cool until ready to use.

This process kind of gets messy...but is fun! Once filling is cooled, place in pastry bag with a tip (I use a wilton number 10 or 12 tip...just a round one with a medium sized opening). Stick the tip into a cupcake and squeeze filling in as you lift it out. Continue until all the cupcakes are filled. If some filling gets on top of cupcake, take off with a spoon.

Frost with buttercream (recipe follows).

Buttercream:

this is my buttercream recipe, feel free to use your favorite...

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

**sometimes I will add raspberry liquor instead of the vanilla

4 Tbsp. milk

Cream butter and slowly add powdered sugar. Add flavoring. Add milk a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

enjoy, and take a bite!