Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

I baked these last night. I thought they would be great for my last day of work of the year. They were. It definitely took the edge off of the usual Friday biology meetings, which have the reputation of lasting all morning and sometimes even digging into lunch.

As the name suggests, these irresistible cupcakes are a fusion of chocolate, peppermint, and coffee. I found that the sugar and caffeine were especially helpful in getting me through the day. This is only step one into my holiday baking, hopefully. The recipe is adapted from the two sites below.

For the cake,

http://annies-eats.com/2009/12/11/peppermint-mocha-cupcakes/

Dry ingredients:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2-3 tsp. espresso powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt

Liquid ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 cup strong brewed coffee (2 tbs. expresso powder + 1 c. boiling water)
1 tsp. peppermint extract

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cupcakes pan with liners. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl, and liquid ingredients in another. Lastly, mix the sugar and butter in a large bowl on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. After mixing in the egg one at a time, blend in the dry and liquid ingredients by alternating between the two and beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Divide batter into the cupcake pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

For the frosting,

http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/3533/Recipe.cfm

9 oz. white chocolate, finely chopped

3 1/2 cups powder sugar

1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

pinch of salt

Heat the white chocolate until smooth in a double broiler, and then let cool to room temperature. Mix powder sugar, milk, and peppermint extract in a mixing bowl, blend in the butter and salt, and beat until smooth. Then, stir in the melted white chocolate, and refrigerate for 30 minutes until firm enough to frost.

For the final touch, I broke some candy cane into pieces and used them for top the frosting.

That's it! Enjoy.

As for me, 2 weeks of vacation here we go~!