Double Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cupcakes

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cupcakes

This year since the market is so bad, we have a “self funded” holiday party at work. The theme was a dessert potluck. I knew I needed to come up with something really amazing to prove to my work that I rein supreme. My cupcakes were the first item to go on a table of 30 desserts. And apparently, people are still talking about them later throughout the week.

Chocolate Cupcakes:
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup butter flavored shortening
2 eggs
½ cup milk
½ tablespoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Add all ingredients to the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix with a spoon to combine. Whip the mixture on high for 5 minutes until the batter is lighter in color, fully incorporated and fluffy.

Place cupcake liners into muffin tins and fill each liner to just under halfway full. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean.

Move to a wire rack to cool.


Peppermint Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon peppermint extract

Mix all of the ingredients in a sand mixer to form stiff peaks.


White Chocolate Butter Cream Icing:
3 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips

Place the egg whites and sugar in the metal bowl from a stand mixer. Place over a pan of water on medium heat. Beat the egg whites with a whisk over the water as it gets warmer. The egg whites will turn white and the sugar will dissolve. Keep beating over the heat until the mixture is warm and the sugar is fully dissolved.

Place the chocolate into a small metal bowl and place it over the warm pan of water. Mix with a rubber spatula until the chocolate if fully dissolved.

While the chocolate is melting, move the egg whites to the stand mixer and beat until soft peaks form. Add the soften butter and vanilla and beat for another 3-5 minutes.

Let the chocolate cool slightly. Add it to the icing base and beat on high for another minute or two, till its combined.


Assembly:
Chocolate Cupcakes
Peppermint Whipped Cream
White Chocolate Icing
Crushed Peppermint Candies

Cut a cone out of the top of each cupcake using a small pairing knife. Trim the pointy part of the cone off to leave just a thin cap. Scoop out more of the interior of the cupcake to make a pocket for the cream filling.

Using a small spoon, fill each cupcake with the peppermint whipped cream and place the cap back on top to seal in the filling.

Using a star tip and a Ziploc bag, pipe a tall swirl of icing onto each cupcake.

Sprinkle each cupcake with the crushed candies and refrigerate until ready to serve.