The cupcake starts with a chocolate base, that I added a slight hint of peppermint to, and some mint cookie crumbs. There's also a hidden cookie inside the cupcake, which is entirely optional. (I put my cookies at the bottom of my cupcake wrappers, but the cookies stuck horribly to the wrapper... so bad that we had to cut them out. I think it would work if you sprayed the inside of your cupcake wrappers with some baking spray. Otherwise, hide the cookie further up in the cupcake.) The cupcake is then topped with a thin layer of mint ganache and topped with a light and fluffy mint buttercream. The whole thing was delicious.
Chocolate Cupcake:
Recipe Source: Martha Stewart
Makes 18-24 Cupcakes
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons safflower oil (I just used regular old vegetable oil)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
To make a "mint" version, you'll also need:
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
about 1 cup of Thin Mint/Mint Cookie crumbs (I threw half a package of E.L. Fudge Grasshopper cookies into the blender, turned them into crumbs, and added that to my chocolate cupcake batter)
about 24 Thin Mints/Mint Cookies (optional... for inside the cupcakes)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; If you want to add a cookie to the bottom of your cupcakes, lightly spray the paper liners with cooking spray; set aside.
2. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add cookie crumbs as well, if using.
3. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and peppermint extract, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
4. Drop 1 cookie into the bottom of each cupcake liner. (This cookie layer is entirely optional. Feel free to omit the cookie and simply fill your muffin cups about 2/3 full.) Cover the cookie, by filling the muffin cups about 2/3 full.
5. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
Mint Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup of Creme de Menthe morsels (Andes morsels or the Mint/Chocolate mix from Nestle all would work)
1 Tbsp. Heavy Cream
Melt the mint/chocolate morsels in the microwave. Once they're melted, stir in the heavy cream and mix until well blended. Set aside to cool slightly.
Mint Buttercream
Recipe Source: Adapted from My Recipes
Makes 3 Cups
Note: This is a great buttercream base. Just increase the vanilla to 1 tsp. and omit the peppermint extract. Also, turn it into a chocolate buttercream by adding 1 cup (6 oz.) of melted semi-sweet or dark chocolate morsels. Add it when you beat the butter and cream cheese.
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
16 oz. powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk (I used less than this... add it slowly to eye the consistency)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
1. Beat butter and cream cheese until combined and fluffy.
2. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until combined.
3. Increase speed to medium and gradually add milk and extracts. Beat until smooth.
Make the cupcakes as stated, adding the peppermint extract and cookie crumbs to the batter. Add the cookie if desired. Bake according to the directions and cool.
Once the mint ganache has cooled slightly, spread a thin layer on top of each cooled cupcake.
Pipe the mint buttercream on top of the cooled ganache and embellish as desired. Enjoy!
