Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

A pretty holiday treat.

Crazy Cake (for the cupcake)

• 3 C flour


• 2 C sugar


• 6 Tbsp cocoa powder


• 2 tsp baking soda


• 1 tsp salt


• 1 tsp vanilla


• 3 Tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice


• 2 C water
  
• 2/3 C canola oil

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of your electric mixer, or in a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds or until combined. Increase speed to medium and beat for 1 minute.

Spoon into prepared pans, filling each cup about 2/3 full.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pans about 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Yield: 3-4 dozen cupcakes

Chocolate Mint Buttercream

• 12 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped


• 4 sticks butter, room temperature


• 1 tsp vanilla extract


• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract


• 3 Tbsp milk


• 5 C powdered sugar
  

Place chocolate in a stainless steel bowl, and place bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Allow to cool

Cream butter with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Gradually add chocoalte and mix just until combined. Add extracts, milk, and powdered sugar. Beat until well combined and a smooth, creamy consistency, being careful not to over mix.

To finish cupcakes:

Pipe or spread frosting onto cupcakes and top with a sprinkle of crushed candy canes.

Crazy cake is a recipe that has been in my mom's family for years. I had thought it was unique, I'd never heard of using vinegar in a cake. I have recently seen similar recipes, though. It's not a super rich or chocolatey cake, but is moist and has a nice, tender texture. It's good paired with the super rich and creamy chocolate buttercream.

This frosting recipe came from Martha Stewart's website. It is the best chocolate frosting I've ever had! The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla, but I substituted 1/2 tsp of the vanilla for peppermint extract. You could use more if you like a stronger peppermint flavor. It makes a lot of frosting! You don't have to use semisweet chocolate. Any kind you like will be fine. I only had 8 oz of semisweet chocolate, so I used 4 oz of dark chocolate too. A half batch is plenty to fill and frost a double layer cake. For cupcakes, it's going to depend on how much frosting you like to use. I like to pipe frosting on cupcakes because it looks so pretty, but I don't pile it on super high. I made a full batch, and had about 2 cups of frosting left over after doing 36 cupcakes. I have yet to try it, but I have heard that it will freeze ok for a month or two. I just put it in the fridge, and will probably use it to make graham cracker sandwiches for my 3 year old.