Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella- double the recipe made 70 mini cuppies. and I almost didn't have enough frosting.

I used the mint chocolate chip recipe with a few differences. First I had no chocolate milk stuff since I make mine from scratch so I just used regular milk and added .1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate. I also had no mini chocolate chips so I skipped them. I made mini cuppies since they were going with me to a party.

to the mix. after tasting the batter I decided there still wasn't a good balance of chocolate/mint so I also added a half square of hershey's special dark to each cuppie.

ohhh... lookie lookie naked cupcakes. oh the shame!

I dont know which was better the batter, or the baby with the batter on him. Nate loved every second of it and stood there while I mixed saying "some? spoon? me nate spoon?" I think perhaps I bake too much? can one ever bake too much?

I made ganche topping and whipped it up (from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella ) This was my first try at making a ganache and It came out ok i guess. It was heavier than I wanted it to be. I used bittersweet chocolate, heavy whipping cream and light cream (since I didn't have enough whipping cream for the recipe) I added 2 tsp of vanilla and 1/2tsp peppermint and that made it a little less intense

the end result. 70 cuppies with whipped ganache frosting. some garnished with a pep'o'mint lifesaver piece. the last 24 cuppies had just a tiny bit of frosting. next time I will have to double it too.

Chocolate Mint Chip CupcakesMakes 18-20

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped, melted

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon peppermint extract1/2 cup chocolate milk

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup (6 ounces) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.

2. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat the melted chocolate into the butter mixture. Add the eggs, peppermint extract, and chocolate milk. Beat until creamy. (this took my stand mixer about 4 minutes)

3. In a separate medium-sized bowl combine the flour and baking soda.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture and beat until well blended (DO NOT OVER BEAT). With a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan.

bittersweet chocolate ganache frosting

3/4Cup whipping cream

6 oz chocolate (chopped small)

heat the cream until just boiling. add to the chocolate pieces and whip until light and airy (7 minutes?)

I added 2tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp peppermint to the whipped cream while it was cooking