York Peppermint or Candy Cane Cupcakes

Oh, my God. Wierdest thing, EVER! As I was thinking of how to start this entry, I put my hand to my chin, as I so often do when deep in thought and HOLY COW it smelled like mint. But it didn't. It couldn't. I made these cupcakes last Thursday. Double checking...no, my hand does NOT in fact smell like mint. The mind plays tricks on us, I do believe.

Anywho... these were good cupcakes, but not at all what i wanted. I wanted to make a York Peppermint Patty cupcake. I wanted a chocolate cake, dark mint chocolate frosting and a cool white-green mint center. What lofty goals I create! What ignorance I have regarding the context of my 10th grade chemistry class.

Dispersive mass transfer is the spreading of mass from highly concentrated areas to less concentrated areas.

OH YEAH! So the cupcake portion puffs up and becomes light and airy. Airy with holes. White chocolate mint center melts and becomes liquid. A dense liquid. Hmm, cupcake is less concentrated and highly absorbant, filling is concentrated liquid. And I somehow did not figure out that it was gonna be absorbed and mixed in with the cake. DUH. I Knew I shoulda listened to Allevato more. Chemistry helps in cooking. So does common sense.

So here is the cupcake. Look at how pretty it is!

But, Oh wait...where did my filling go? Oh yes, it dispersed. No yummy white mint center. Just a dark cake that tastes like mint all over. So much for York Peppermint Patty. Now it must be called a chocolate candy cane.

Tips for next time: Don't go through the effort of making the filling. Just add the mint to the cupcake batter. It just mixes in anyway. Or, you could cut the cooked cupcakes open and fill them with the white mint, but I think you would need a different filling recipe as this would not be the texture you would want for that.

The frosting came about because of a mistake, but turned out very well. More labor intensive than what I meant to do, but even better taste in the end.

Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcakes
White Mint "Filling"
2TBSP butter
1TBSP sugar
1 1/2 tsp mint extract
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 oz white chocolate, chopped
green sprinkles
Heat the butter and sugar in double boiler over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Add extracts and chocolate. Stir to melt. Add green sprinkles and stir. Refridgerate, stirring often. Shape into teaspoon size balls to fill cupcakes.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 24-30 cupcakes / 350 degree oven
2 cups of boiling water
1 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
2 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of butter, room temperature
2 1/8 cups of sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1) Preheat oven to 350. Pour boiling water over cocoa powder and mix throughly until smooth (harder than it sounds). Let cool.
2) Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and powder together in a separate bowl.
3) Cream together the sugar and butter and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then add the vanilla. Add the flour and the cocoa mixture alternatively in a dry-wet-dry method, beginning and ending with the dry.
4) Fill cupcake papers 1/2 full. Insert ball of filling.

Cover with a little more batter and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cook on a wire rack.

Mint Chocolate Frosting
2 TBSP butter
1 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 tsp mint etract
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 oz chocolate chips
2 TBSP milk
1 1/2- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Using same method as for filling, melt butter and sugar over double boiler. Remove from heat. Add flavorings, chocolate and milk. Combine and let melt. Slowly mix in powdered sugar with electric mixer until fluffy. Frost cupcakes and top with green sprinkles or crushed candy canes.