Friday, December 25, 2015

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes























With the holiday season comes delights for all to enjoy: parties, candy canes, pretty lights, gingerbread houses and...Starbucks Holiday Beverages! This year's offerings include the Chestnut Praline Latte, the Caramel Brûlé Latte, and my personal favourite, the Peppermint Mocha. Even though the Peppermint Mocha is actually available all year round, I was only recently inspired by it for my next cupcake. Silly me, I should have thought of this sooner! This concoction starts with an incredible peppermint mocha cupcake, is filled with a coffee ganache, and then topped with whipped cream and crushed candy cane. After researching many different recipes and trying to understand cake chemistry/magic, I learned that oil in cakes gives a nicer crumb but that butter gives a much nicer flavour, as expected. I decided to try half butter and half oil and the results are amazing. I hope you think so too!

Peppermint Mocha Cupcake:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp peppermint extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup freshly brewed coffee
2 tsp instant coffee

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cream the butter until smooth then slowly mix in the canola oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract and peppermint extract.
3. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet in 3 parts.
5. Dissolve the instant coffee in the brewed coffee then slowly add to the batter. Once mixed, the batter will be very wet. You're going to think that something went wrong but please have faith!
6. Portion batter into prepared muffin tins with an ice cream scoop.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool completely before continuing.

Coffee Ganache:
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp instant coffee

1. Add instant coffee to the cream and heat until just boiling.
2. Pour hot cream over chocolate and let sit for 3-5 minutes.
3. Gently whisk together until the mixture is smooth.
4. Allow to cool before filling the cupcakes.

Whipped Cream:
2 cups heavy cream
4 tbsp icing sugar
Candy cane

1. Add icing sugar to the cream.
2. Beat with a wire whisk until stiff peaks form.

Assembly:
1. Using a pastry bag fitted with a metal tip, make a hole in the centre of the cupcake and fill generously with the coffee ganache.
2. Frost filled cupcakes with whipped cream and decorate with crushed candy canes or chocolate curls as desired.