#3 Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes!

My goal for this year, while I'm on the "all things peppermint" journey: 50 peppermint recipes in 50 weeks,  is to create  a wide variety of peppermint baked goodies. But as occasions come up I am making things that are most suitable for the celebration or event.  This week we celebrated Megan's birthday.  Megan is part of our awesome Dragon Intervention Team at work.  She is such a delightful person to work with!  In honor of Megan's birthday I made these super yummy Peppermint Mocha cupcakes. 

Here's what you need

For cupcakes:

1 Devils Food box cake mix

1 cup brewed coffee, the stronger the better

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 packet dry instant hot chocolate drink  mix

1 tsp peppermint extract

Filling:

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

Frosting:

1 cup butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup powdered cocoa

2/3 cup melted milk chocolate chips ( you can also use semi sweet chocolate chips if you prefer)

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp peppermint extract

8 crushed candy canes or 24 peppermint disk candies 

Here's how to put it all together:

Follow ditections for boxed devil's food cake mix, substituting brewed coffee for the water. Add instant hot chocolate mix and peppermint extract and mix all ingredients together for about 2 minutes on medium speed. You never want to overmix the cake mix ingredients as this will make your cupcakes bake flatter. 

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 17 to 22 minutes. I recommend always checking after the least amount of time. Use a toothpick inserted in the middle of a couple of the cupcakes to see if they're done. If the toothpick comes out clean they are baked through.

Next, you will need to core the cupcakes once they're cooled. You can either use a knife to cut the hole in the middle and scoop them out that way. Or you can buy a simple cupcake corer at your local Cake and Candy supply store.

To make the filling, start by chilling the bowl you will be using to mix all the ingredients in the freezer for just a couple of minutes. Once you're ready to whip the cream place the cream in the mixing bowl and beat at high speed until soft peaks form. Then add the powdered sugar and the vanilla extract and beat until well combined.

Scoop the cream into a Piping Bag or plastic Ziploc bag with hole cut at the point and pipe the cream into each cupcake.

Once you have filled your cupcakes you're ready for the frosting.

Start by whisking the cocoa and the powdered sugar together in a bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Slowly add the powdered sugar and cocoa mixture,  alternating with milk and beat until creamy and smooth. Use only enough of the milk to achieve the desired consistency for piping. Next, beat in the vanilla and the melted chocolate until well combined.

Using a piping bag and a  large star tip or other large tip of your choice, pipe the frosting on to your cupcakes and sprinkle with the crushed peppermint pieces. I recommend only frosting two or three cupcakes at a time before adding the crushed peppermint. If you frost all the cupcakes at once, sometimes the frosting has enough time to dry slightly and the crushed peppermint pieces won't adhere to the frosting as well.

Makes 20-24 cupcakes.