In September, I started a cupcake adventure. If you haven't read about it yet, you can do so here. ***
If you like chocolate and mint together, you would LOVE these cupcakes! Layer upon layer of chocolate, then mint, then chocolate, then mint. Mmm.
I was so excited to have a chance to use the cupcake papers my friends Emily and Jacee had gotten me for my birthday--pretty much the greatest gift for a baker and paper-lover like me! :) For these cupcakes I chose the obvious choice--brown!
As with pretty much every other recipe, I started by creaming butter and sugar...soon to be followed by eggs (shown hiding in the background).
While the butter and sugar are combining, I measured out the dry ingredients, including cocoa powder, as well as a half-cup of Andes mint chips.
Dry ingredients were added to the batter mixture.
As well as some half-and-half.
Then, the mint chips were sprinkled on top of the batter and pressed in slightly.
Would you LOOK AT THAT?! Mmm.
Once the cupcakes came out of the oven, they looked like pure perfection...but we're not finished yet!
((look at those mint chunks! Yummy!))
Butter and powdered sugar form the base for the icing...
And a little green coloring and some drops of peppermint extract make everything a bit mintier.
What a beauty! But we're still not done! (remember what I said about layers and layers?!)
Next, I melted some dark chocolate to make a ganache.
And each cupcake was dipped in the chocolate and then topped with a Junior Mint!
Woo hoo! Chocolate, mint, chocolate, mint, chocolate, mint!
Hallelujah!