If You Give a Girl a Muffin Tin…

If You Give a Girl a Muffin Tin…

If you give a girl a muffin tin, she will want to make cupcakes.

Several years ago my wife got a 12-cup muffin tin and started making cupcakes for our nieces and sons birthdays. The problem was that many recipes she had yielded 24 cupcakes. So she had to buy another muffin tin. As the kids have gotten older, there are more and more parties: school parties for Halloween and Christmas, violin studio parties, kids’ club parties, neighborhood parties. So she had to get more tins to make more cupcakes. This time she got mini muffin tins because they make 24 cupcakes. Maybe it’s just that time of year, but recently it seems like she is making cupcakes all the time. But since they are all homemade – no corn syrup, butylated hydroxyanisole (try saying that three times fast), or red #40 – I’m happy to sample each batch. And because they are small cakes, I’m comfortable having more than one. (The mini cupcakes are even better. You can pop them in your mouth by the handful.) If they served carrot cupcakes in the school lunch program, they could call it a vegetable serving. Put some bacon on the cream cheese frosting and you have your protein, vegetable, and carbohydrates. A meal in a muffin cup. But I digress. An overload of sugar will do that to you, even if it is laced with bacon.

If you let my wife make enough cupcakes, she will want a stand mixer to make them. So last year we got a stand mixer. I must say, it’s one of the best kitchen appliances we own. Great for pizza dough too. Of all the cupcakes that have graced our tins, my favorites are the black bottom cupcakes and the peppermint cupcakes shown here. I don’t know of many flavor combinations better than chocolate and mint. The cool minty bite plays well against the deep chocolaty richness. It just works for me. So when I get a hankering, I’ll be sure to always give my girl a muffin tin.

Enjoy!

Geoff

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting

Makes 24 cupcakes

Cake

3/4 cup butter, softened

3 eggs, at room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1-1/2 cups milk

Icing

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

4 to 6 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons peppermint extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup crushed peppermint candies

For the cake, line 24 muffin cups with decorative cupcake liners and set aside. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and eggs with a hand-held mixer (or your nifty stand mixer) on high speed for about 20 seconds. Add the sugar 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium speed after each addition for about 3 minutes, or until well combined. Beat for another couple of minutes after the last addition. Then beat in the vanilla. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Alternately add the flour mixture and milk in thirds to the butter mixture, beating on low after each addition, continuing beating until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups until about half full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before icing. Meanwhile, make the icing.

For the icing, combine the sugar and butter in a bowl and beat (this is where the stand mixer comes in handy) on medium speed until smooth. Add the milk, peppermint extract, and salt and beat again until smooth. Swirl the icing on top of the cupcakes and sprinkle the peppermint candy pieces on top.