Thin-Mint Cupcakes

Thin Mint Cupcakes. The idea came to me via an episode of "Unique Sweets." Now, that's a food show I love: no recipes given, just a bunch of foodies drooling over amazing desserts.

These guys are a little involved, but they're more than worth it. It starts with a cookie crust, followed by a moist chocolate cake, a mint buttercream filling, and it's all topped off with a smooth, creamy chocolate ganache. Thin Mint Cupcakes: Win.

edit: I wanted to post a slightly updated version of this recipe containing a more accurate peppermint buttercream recipe so that there is enough frosting to fill and decorate, a better chocolate coating for the top of the cupcake, and (ultimately) a better final product.

Thin Mint Cupcakes
yield: 24 cupcakes

Chocolate Cookie Crust
Found originally at food.com

40 Nabisco Chocolate Wafer cookies (about 1 box)
6 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Crush the cookies by grinding in a food processor. Otherwise, use your hands and the bottom of a heavy, plastic cup of some kind. They don't have to be uniformly crushed; the butter will soften slightly larger crumbs.

Add the melted butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir until all of the crumbs are moist. Press into the bottoms of the cupcake liners. Bake for about 6 minutes. Watch them closely; you do not want them to burn. Let cool for about 20 minutes in pans on racks.



Chocolate Cake
I'm using a slightly modified Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake recipe

2 cups granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup hot coffee

Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir to combine thoroughly. Add in eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Mix for 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in coffee. Batter will be thin. Pour on top of cooled crusts in cupcake tins, filling about 2/3 full. This recipe makes enough batter for about 30 cupcakes, so there will be some left over.

Bake for 22 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on wire racks before removing from pans and allowing to cool completely.



Peppermint Buttercream
I'm using a modified version originally found on Pink Parsely's blog

edit: Having made this recipe quite a few times now, this frosting in this (the previous) quantity isn't really enough to fill the cupcakes and to top them decoratively. Below, I have made some changing, increasing the recipe by 1/3 to have enough:

1 cup of butter, softened
4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
about 6 drops green food coloring
4 tbsp heavy cream

Cream the butter in a stand mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the confectioner's sugar gradually, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla, peppermint, cream, and food coloring, and beat until light and fluffy.

Fill pastry bag fitted with a wide or rosette tip with peppermint butter cream. Be bold. Plunge the tip into the center of the cupcake until it hits the crust and fill each cupcake with pastry cream. The cupcake will likely bulge and buckle. Inevitably, you will have to spread some frosting on the top as a kind of crumb coat to make the top smooth and to make it easier to dip the cupcake into chocolate.

Chocolate Ganache

edit: I have used a ganache to top the cupcakes quite a few times, and the ganache never quite seems to come out right. After a recent batch of Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes (with  an amazing salted caramel buttercream found over at Buttercream Couture), I decided to use plain melted chocolate. Below, these changes have been reflected.

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (though I got away with using Ghiradelli chocolate chips)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Place chocolate in a bowl in the top of a double boiler and heat gently (over medium low to medium heat) until melted and smooth. Turn cupcakes upside down and dip into warm chocolate, coating the top. I had to occasionally use a spoon to cover up a missed spot or two.

This is one of those recipes of which I'm enormously proud. Other than the extra cupcakes that the batter makes, the only thing I would change is a slightly thicker layer of chocolate on top. Otherwise, these are Thin-Mint cookies in Cupcake form. Enjoy!

My First Carrot Cake

I've had this blog for quite some time now, but I've never made a carrot cake. I like them well enough, but I just never seem to make them. I'm not sure why that is, but then I don't really make traditional cakes so much as cupcakes and the like.

I started with my usual method of search and seizure, looking at different recipes from many different sources. This is the sort of recipe that all of my books contain, and of course websites like Tastespotting are filled with many variations: pineapple, cardamom, coconut, raisins, pecans, walnuts, chocolate... Just about any variation you could find is out there somewhere.

I'm sticking with a traditional, if not spicy, carrot cake. I started with Alton Brown's recipe as a base because it's straightforward and contains only carrots and cinnamon. I love ginger and cardamom (and how they play off cinnamon's spiciness), so I added those but they certainly aren't required. I'm a fan of pecans and Brown's recipe lacked them. For the frosting, it's hard to mess with the traditional cream cheese.

Carrot Cake

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger, optional
1/2 tsp ground cardamom, optional

3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup oil
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs

4 medium carrots, grated measuring 1 1/2 cups
1 cup finely chopped pecans

extra chopped pecans for decoration

Butter and flour two 9x2 cake pans and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the carrots and mix to coat the carrots in the flour mixture. Add in the chopped pecans.

Combine the wet ingredients, including the sugar, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until combined and slightly thickened (about 3 minutes).

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Don't over-mix.

Divide batter between cake pans and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8-oz packages cream cheese, left at room temperature for 15 minutes to soften
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups confectioner's sugar

Combine the cream cheese, butter, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat until combined. Add the vanilla and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add 2 cups of the confectioner's sugar and beat to combine. Add the remaining confectioner's sugar and mix until frosting comes together and gains a little lightness and volume, about two minutes longer. Frost the cake.

I feel like I should point out I used a different recipe for the frosting initially, and these pictures reflect that recipe. It used more cream cheese than butter and required more confectioner's sugar. The
result was a bit gloppy and difficult for frosting the cake. I've since tried the above recipe to wonderful success frosting cupcakes.