Crème de Menthe Cupcakes

My cousin sent me a great cookbook in the mail a month ago, and I finally made my first recipe out of it. I’m sure you couldn’t guess it, but it was a cupcake cookbook. Oh my, how I love cupcakes.

My first recipe to try was a Crème de Menthe cupcake. It has been a while since I made any cupcakes because our kitchen was out of use for a bit, so I was happy to finally get to bake again! This is what the cupcakes look like in the book. Mine didn’t turn out quite so pretty, but this recipe is delicious!

Crème de Menthe Cupcakes

For the Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 tbsp. Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup superfine sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter softened
4 large eggs
3 tsp. mint extract
1 cup mint chocolate chips

For the Frosting
2/3 cup sweet butter softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
5 tbsp. crème de menthe
green food coloring

Preheat oven to 325 degree F. Place 20 paper baking cups in muffin pans.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Set aside. Beat the sugar and butter together in a large bowl until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture gradually, stirring until well combined. Stir in the mint extract and chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into the cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.

To make the frosting, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Stir in the crème de menthe and just enough food coloring to turn the frosting mint green. Frost the cupcakes and decorate with an Andes mint. Eat and enjoy!

This is how my cupcakes turned out.

Taste= A++

Presentation= C-

I can’t quite gotten the hang of icing yet. But then again, this is only my second time to make icing from scratch. It was a little thicker than what I wanted and not quite as fluffy. But I’m sure I’ll get it soon and the icing tasted amazing anyways!

I generally take half my cupcakes to work and leave the other half at home for my husband and I. This time, I took half to work, we each ate one, and the rest will sit here on the table for the weekend. We are headed to Albuquerque, and instead of boarding our dogs, one of our amazing friends is always willing to watch them for us. In exchange for cupcakes. I think this is a pretty good deal. I like to make cupcakes, and she likes to eat them. What a great payment!

Here are some ideas of how I want my cupcakes to look next time.

djibnet.com

thefrostedcakncookie.blogspot.com

If you make these cupcakes, I hope you like them, and be sure to send me a picture of them so I can check them out.

Lastly, we are headed to Albuquerque this afternoon and I am pretty excited about the Balloon Festival and about getting to see my parents! I will be taking a lot of pictures, so be prepared to be bombarded with balloons next week!

Peace, Love and Cupcakes!

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Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Skip To My Lou, Lucky Star Lane, These Creative Juices