25 Days of Baking: Day 8

Have I got a treat for you today! Chocolatey Peppermint Cupcakes. Yup, you're drooling already! I found this baby in my Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Baking from 2010. The bonus of these is that everything in them I already had in my pantry. There was not extra items added to a list or a special trip to the store. You gotta love recipes like that.

Chocolatey Peppermint Cupcakes

~1 1/4 cups flour

~1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

~1 teaspoon baking powder

~1/2 teaspoon salt

~1/4 teaspoon baking soda

~1/4 cup shortening

~1/2 cup sugar

~1 teaspoon vanilla

~2 egg yolks

~2/3 cup cold water

~2 egg whites

~1/3 cup sugar

~1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate pieces

Creamy Peppermint frosting

1/4 cup crushed peppermint candies

Crushed peppermint candies (optional)

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat twelve 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside.
2. In a very large bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1/2 cup sugar and the vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and water to shortening mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.
3. Thoroughly wash beaters. In a large bowl, beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks  form (tips curl). Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Fold one-fourth of the beaten egg whites into chocolate batter to lighten. Gently fold in the remaining beaten egg whites. Gently fold in chocolate pieces. Divide among the prepared muffin cups.
4. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on wire rack.
5. Up to 4 hours before serving, prepare Creamy Peppermint Frosting. Cut cupcakes in half horizontally. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the frosting onto the bottom of each cupcake. Replace cupcake tops, pressing gently to spread frosting to edges.
6. Place the 1/4 cup crushed candies on a sheet of waxed paper. Roll sides of cupcakes in crushed candies to coat the exposed frosting. Pipe or spread the remaining frosting onto tops of cupcakes. If desired, sprinkle with additional crushed peppermint candies. Makes 12 cupcakes.

 

 Peppermint Buttercream Frosting

In a medium bowl, beat 1 cup softened butter with an electric mixer on medium until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of powdered sugar, beating well. Beat in 2 Tablespoons milk and 2 teaspoons peppermint extract. Gradually beat in an additional 3 cups powdered sugar until smooth. If necessary, beat in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to make of spreading consistency.

 

 

 These were a wonderful dessert after supper and I'm pretty sure would also be a great breakfast. I still have some left over frosting, but I know that won't last long. I'm thinking smearing graham crackers with it would be delish!

 

 That super adorable Santa hat in the pictures comes from a great boutique called 22 Cute Designs. Go check out her Etsy page. If your in the market for a cute Santa hat, here is the link.

 

 

25 Days of Baking: Day 4

You may want to grab a glass of milk while you read this post. These cupcakes are amazing and so rich. This was another recipe that I had pinned on Pinterest for sometime and every time I looked at it screamed at me to make it. I love chocolate and I love toffee so win win! Here is the original link to the recipe.

There were a few things in the original recipe that I found to be a little confusing and my frosting didn't turn out like it should have. But never the less the cupcakes were wonderful and I would happily make them again.

Toffee Crunch Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcake

• 1 cup (4.5 ounces) all purpose flour
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7.3 ounces) sugar
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1.5 ounces) Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and warm
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon instant coffee (recommended: Starbucks Via)
• 1/2 cup chocolate covered toffee bits

Caramel Frosting

• 5 large egg whites
• 11/2 cup sugar
• 4 sticks unsalted butter, diced and softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup caramel sauce (click here for a homemade caramel recipe)

Chocolate Dipping Sauce

• 2/3 cups dark chocolate
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
• 5-8 tablespoons water, warm

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Directions:

Preparation

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cupcake

Add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a blow and mix thoroughly to combine. Add the butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for one minute. Add the butter and egg mixture and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the hot coffee (use the Starbucks Via to make this). Add the toffee bits to the batter. Beat for 20-30 seconds until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thin enough to pour. Divide it evenly among the lined cups. Bake 18-22 minutes just until a toothpick inserted into a few of the cupcakes comes out clean. Set the pan on a rack to cool. Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cool. Store and serve at room temperature.

TIP: For light tender cupcakes, spoon flour and cocoa lightly into measuring cups (instead of dipping the cups into the flour or cocoa) and then sweep the measures level without tapping or shaking them.

Caramel Frosting

1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a bowl placed over simmering water. Bring mixture to 150 degrees F while whisking constantly.
2. Transfer mixture to stand mixer bowl, fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium speed until mixture cools and doubles in volume.
3. Add butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. The mixture may appear clumpy and almost curdled looking-this is normal. Keep mixing and it will become even and smooth again. Add salt and vanilla and mix to combine. Add caramel sauce and mix to combine.

Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Place chocolate and heavy cream in a bowl over simmering water. Let chocolate and cream sit for 2-3 minutes to melt without stirring. Then slowly stir mixture to combine. Add powdered sugar and mix to combine. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition until pouring consistency is reached. Set aside and let sauce cool to warm.

To assemble cupcake

To frost the cupcakes: Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip and start piping from the outside working in to the center to create one even layer. Freeze cupcakes for 20 minutes before dipping in warm chocolate sauce, so that the frosting does not melt. Remove cupcakes and dip in warm chocolate sauce, and then rim with chocolate covered toffee bits.  Return cupcakes to freezer for five minutes for chocolate to set. Remove from freezer and finish piping frosting on top.

In the original recipe she stats -1/2 cup hot coffee in the cupcake ingredients, which is confusing as she also has the Starbucks via which you mix to get the 1/2 cup hot coffee. So I took that off. There are also 1/2 cup chocolate covered toffee bits in the cupcake ingredients, although the recipe doesn't state anything about these. It's in her side notes that she mentions that she added these to the batter. I added them to the recipe to decrease confusion!

My frosting didn't set up like it should have. I also don't have a candy thermometer and I'm sure that may have helped with this. I used a meat thermometer instead. It was very runny and so I ended up adding about 2 cups (give or take a little) of powdered sugar to get it to set up and then refrigerated it so it would harden a little. I did keep them refrigerated until we were going to eat them so the frosting didn't melt on me.

All said and done these are a great treat and even my kids liked them. Miss Belle just liked the frosting. Take note of the small hand trying to grab one while I was taking photos!