#43: After Eight Cupcakes

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!

brownpapers

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).

creaming

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.

chocmint

Dry ingredients were added to the batter mixture.

addchoc

As well as some half-and-half.

addcream

Then, the mint chips were sprinkled on top of the batter and pressed in slightly.

mintchips

Would you LOOK AT THAT?! Mmm.

singlemint

Once the cupcakes came out of the oven, they looked like pure perfection...but we're not finished yet!

group1

((look at those mint chunks! Yummy!))

single

Butter and powdered sugar form the base for the icing...

creaming2

And a little green coloring and some drops of peppermint extract make everything a bit mintier.

greenicing

What a beauty! But we're still not done! (remember what I said about layers and layers?!)

singleiced1

Next, I melted some dark chocolate to make a ganache.

choc

And each cupcake was dipped in the chocolate and then topped with a Junior Mint!

group

Woo hoo! Chocolate, mint, chocolate, mint, chocolate, mint!

final

Hallelujah!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Giddy Up!

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