DEVILS WITH ICY COOL HEARTS…COCOA MINT CUPCAKES
I tried… 
So I crushed mint leaves with some powdered sugar in the pestle & mortar to get the flavours out…inspiration from an Alice Medrich recipe where the sugar & citrus zest are rubbed together to enhance the flavours.
Made a thick chocolate ganache & stirred in the crushed mint.
Went a step further, crushed some more mint & flavoured the buttercream to top the little devils with!
Have been making chocolate cupcakes with cocoa ever since I can remember. Will sound strange, but it wasn’t until 2 years back that we began getting any kind of baking chocolate here! The supply is still very limited & often you will find the slabs all gone. People like me habitually buy them in bars of 1 kg & use them in a miserly fashion. Chocolate chips are unheard of in most shops!!! Hmmmmmmmmm…
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Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Stir in the cream & mint. It should all come together. Divide it into 12 equal portions & keep aside as filling.
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Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 12 muffin tray. I made 12 mini muffins in addition too from the batter that got left over.
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Sift the flour + cocoa + baking powder + baking soda + salt. Keep aside.
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Cream the butter & sugar till light & fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one, followed by the vanilla.
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On low speed, beat in the flour mix in 4 goes. Finally on low speed, gradually beat in the boiling water.
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Put a tbsp of batter into each muffin case & top with mint ganache. Put in batter over this & fill it up to 2/3 rd’s full.
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Bake for 20-25 minutes till done.
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Cool on racks completely.
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Buttercream: Beat 3 tbsps of butter with crushed mint + 1 1/2 tbsps of cream. Add in enough powdered sugar to get piping consistency.
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Ice as desired with buttercream. Garnish with fresh mint leaves. Chill well & serve.
I had fun icing these beauties & loved the colours…deep chocolate & fresh, lively green. The buttercream was pretty too, speckled with bits of mint; tasted fresh & exciting too. The lily in the background is one from my garden & is my current passion.
Check it out…it went from bud to bloom in a matter of 2 hours!
Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
19 Comments
nicisme
Aww, cute decorations on the most scrummy cupcakes I’ve seen today!
I’ve got some lillies on my patio too, but they aren’t out yet. Yours are gorgeous!
Happy cook
I think it is really clever you used fresh mint.
It indeed must have been really refreshing.
d
oh i love that i discovered your blog! it has become my place to ‘run’ to! i made the apple crumble, was amazing. my daughters (3 and 5) loved it too! also made date and walnut cake – (with partly my own recipe and partly yours) – again very nice. and minty lemon drink thingee (which is what i google searched for and landed at your blog in the first place!). and yoghurt dip. all very nice.
now dying to try biscotti – something i have never made before.
in this cupcake recipe if i don’t want the mint all i have to do is omit it, right? or any other change?
thanks! and am thrilled i discovered you blog!
d
Hetal
These cupcakes are heavenly..I am sure they taste too good…love the idea of using fresh mint..
meeso
You always pair up the best flavors, like this chocolate and mint! Delicious!!!
familiabencomo
NO CHOCOLATE CHIPS?!?!? I’m so happy to hear that you can made do. These are absolutely bee-ewe-tee-full cupcakes! I love everything about them. Great job! I hope you win, daahling!
Tanti baci,
Amy
Passionate baker...& beyond
Thanks Nic…there’s something about lilies isn’t there? Ever so pretty; these cupcakes were a lot of fun.
Anything fresh is great on flavour HC…that is what I enjopy most.
You made my day many times over d…yes, just skip the mint if you don’t have it.
Thanks Hetal…
Was doing a jig of joy when Landers landed Amy…these wre made with thoughts of Mars, so you can have the credit!! We had these chilled & they were lovely! Tanti baci…
Passionate baker...& beyond
Thanks Nic…there’s something about lilies isn’t there? Ever so pretty; these cupcakes were a lot of fun.
Anything fresh is great on flavour HC…that is what I enjopy most.
You made my day many times over d…yes, just skip the mint if you don’t have it.
Thanks Hetal…
Was doing a jig of joy when Landers landed Amy…these wre made with thoughts of Mars, so you can have the credit!! We had these chilled & they were lovely! Tanti baci…
notyet100
u knw whtur cakes are gettin better day by day,..:-)
Purnima
Deeba,hws ur palm,the cut nerve n still baking strong!! Applauds to u on two ideas..1. crushing mint wt pwdr sugar, 2.Those ganache filled wt minty sugar..hw did u get those?? Looks great..n who was the lucky fellow/felli to bite a pc off?? 😀
The CC’s look great..superb n splendid! Can u post a vertical section of the CC pls?? It wd surely b a spectacular pic!
HOPE U WIN, THREE CHEERS TO U N PAB!! H3 H3 H3!
(choco chips or not, ur baked goodies never lack the glamor or taste! Made round two of ur homemade mango icecream, this time added tiny cubes of firm ripe alphonso!shl post tht soon!)Thks ever so muchhhhhhhh!
Those lilies r bright n pleasant too!
Arundathi
what beautiful cupcakes and thanks for sharing the recipe that’s been yours for eons! 🙂 i don’t have a food processor/cake mixer thingie, so was wondering if i could hand mix this – wasn’t too sure since you’d mentioned the speeds etc.
would love to make these cupcakes.
Rosie
Oh Deeba it really is SO lovely to hear that in some small way I have helped with your mint & Chocolate flavours. Many thanks for your very kind mention of my blog too 🙂
I just love your idea of adding fresh mint to your cupcakes and they really DO look stunning!!
Your photo of your lilies is just amazing!
Rosie x
diva
HELLO LOVELY! and yes i’m talking to both you and the cupcakes.
love tht ganache. sounds amazing, looks fantastic.
azcookbook
I love the idea of using fresh mint in baked goodies. I myself use them in mixed berry crumbles – just add some chopped mint on the filling and you are guaranteed to have the delicious aroma fill your house. I am sure that’s what happened to your house:) I can smell the aroma of your cupcakes!!!!
Cham
Wow, gorgeous cup cake and excellent pairing of choco and mint Deeba!
Kalai
Love those cupcakes, Deeba!! Mint and chocolate is a dynamite combo! 🙂
Dwiana P
your lily is blooming so beautiful. I think I have to wait mine until end of June or July to bloom.
Garden is my newbie LOL, you can tell I haven’t yet posting of things I make from my kitchen as I am too busy outside.
Mara
those look lovely!! i like your interpretation of the mint..chocolate mint is one of my favorite combinations. i did cupcake hero this month too…check it out!
bbaking
oooh these look scrumptious! I also love the choc mint combo.
As for the Kendal mint cake, I know you can buy a chocolate coated variety so if you make some then that sounds like a nice thing to try.