Day 155 – Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Ok. Now it’s time to get serious. It’s the 2nd day of 2014. Sure sure. Yesterday’s cupcake was fun. But today’s…today’s gets serious. Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes (recipe below from Sweet Revelations). Seriously rich. Seriously tasty. And seriously humorous with the weights behind them, as the only thing I’m lifting these days are cupcakes…

(No tip video today, but check back next week for a new one!)

    

The cupcakes are dense and cakey. A little like Devil’s food.  They taste like a dark cocoa. Not a lot of coffee flavor.  Mostly chocolate.

The frosting is a smooth, silky swiss buttercream.  It has a nice peppermint flavor. Not too strong, but definitely there.

    

They are really tasty together. Very smooth and creamy. Chocolate and mint, but not aggressive. Like an adult York Peppermint Patty.

Scoring Sheet:

• Cupcake Taste: 3.5

• Frosting Taste: 4.5

• Overall Taste: 4

• Appearance: 4.5
• Ease of Making: 3.5
• TOTAL: 20

RECIPE

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes (recipe from Sweet Revelations)

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup strong hot coffee
• 3/4 cup dark cocoa
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise, room temperature

Peppermint Buttercream

• 5 egg whites
• 1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 cups of unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

For directions visit Sweet Revelations.

*Tomorrow: Pumpkin Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting*