Livin' la vida Mocha

I think I've mentioned that I'm addicted to Pinterest (look me up! I pin my cupcakes) Anyway, One of the very first cupcakes I pinned was a Peppermint Mocha one. I love Peppermint Mocha's from Starbucks, and I await their arrival every winter. When I saw a cupcake variety, I knew I HAD to try them. Well, over the course of the past few months I've basically been taking ideas from other cupcakers and then putting my spin on them. Christmas time finally arrived, which granted me permission to bake the Peppermint Mocha cupcakes. Instead of adapting someone else's cupcake, I adapted my own! Yeah....I went back to my mochaccino cupcake and I added some peppermint extract, to give is a minty kick. This cake was then topped with a whipped buttercream frosting, flavored with peppemint. The result - a DELISH rendition of one of my favorite coffee beverages. I used a medium blend of coffee in the cupcake, which helped decrease the coffee's intensity, making it more kid friendly. My kids LOVED them, and my daughter has requested this cupcake to be the one that we take into school for her Christmas party. She makes me proud that I'm baking cupcakes. Call me cheesey, but I adore the pride on her face when she talkes about my cupcake creations.

Anyway, bake these - take them to your holiday party. Become everyone's hero.

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream

For the cupcake:
3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c dutch processed cocoa (I used Valrhona, purchased at Sur La Table)
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 c whole milk
1/3 c medium-blend brewed coffee, cooled
2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp peppermint extract
3 oz mini semisweet chocolate chips


For the frosting:
1/2 c shortening
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
3 tsp peppermint extract
3 Tbsp water
4 c confectioners' sugar
3 Tbsp whipping cream

For the ganache:
2 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 c heavy cream
1 Tbsp confectioners' sugar


Prepare your cupcake pans by lining them with cupcake papers. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together and set aside. In a large measuring cup combine milk and coffee.

In your mixing bowl beat butter at high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 c at a time, beating until light and fluffy. Scrape down your bowl and continue to beat for 2 minutes. Decrease your mixer speed to low and add your eggs, one at a time. Beat in extracts. Scrape down your bowl, then set at low speed. Slowly alternate addition of flour mixture and coffee mixture, ending with the flour mixture. Remove bowl from mixer stand and stir in chocolate chips. Scoop into prepared cupcake liners and bake at 350 for 18 minutes. Cool cupcakes for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

While cupcakes cool, prepare your frosting. Cream butter, shortening, extract, and about 2 Tbsp water together in mixer bowl. Slowly add confectioners' sugar. If needed, add more water, until you are almost to perfect consistency for piping and spreading. Add whipping cream to mixer and increase speed to medium. Beat frosting until light cloudy. Pipe or spread on cupcakes.

For the ganache, place all ingredients in microwave safe glass bowl and heat on medium heat for 30 seconds, until warm. NOT hot...warm. Remove from  micro, then whisk all ingredients together. Once everything is combined and smooth, place in fridge. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes, then remove and drizzle over cupcakes. Garnish with peppermint pieces, or candies, if desired.

mmmmmm...mocha.....

I lived in Seattle for almost a year, in 2001. While there I ended up working at Starbucks for a short time. In that short time I became a coffee addict. Oh yeah, all of you fellow coffee addicts out there know exactly what I mean. One of my favorite drinks was a mocha, or any variation of a mocha.
As much as I loved/love Starbucks, there was a little coffee shop a few blocks away from our apartment that made a killer mocha. When I walked into that coffee shop I was hit with the amazing scents of freshly baked goods and delicious coffee. For the life of me, I can't remember what the shop was called. Anyway, yesterday, when I opened my oven to pull out these cupcakes, my mind immediately took me back 11 yrs, to that little coffee shop in Greenlake. The scent of the baked goods, in combination with the chocolate & coffee made me flash back, and it was wonderful.
To improve matters, when I took my first bite, I was lost in the deliciousness. The just strong enough coffee flavor penetrated through the moist chocolate cupcake, and was accented by the coffee buttercream which topped the cupcake. I received many compliments on this one, from both coffee drinkers and non-coffee drinkers. This would be a perfect ending to a meal, or a perfect beginning to a day! I'm not going to lie, I totally had one of these for breakfast this week. Deee-lish!!

Mochaccino Cupcakes
from BHG Magazine, or their website

For the cupcake:
3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c dutch processed cocoa (I used Valrhona, purchased at Sur La Table)
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 c whole milk
1/2 c strong brewed coffee, cooled
2 c granulated sugar
2 tsp Mexican vanilla
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, coursly chopped into small pieces

For the coffee buttercream:
1/3 c unsalted butter, room temperature
4 c confectioners' sugar
3-4 Tbsp of the same coffee from above
1 tsp Mexican vanilla

For the garnish (optional)
30 creme-filled rolled wafers, such as Pirouettes

Let eggs, butter, and milk sit at room temperature for about 20-25 minutes. Prep your cupcake pans with liners. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together and set aside. In a large measuring cup combine milk and coffee. Set aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In your mixing bowl beat butter at high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 c at a time, beating until light and fluffy. Scrape down your bowl and continue to beat for 2 minutes. Decrease your mixer speed to low and add your eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Scrape down your bowl, then set at low speed. Slowly alternate addition of flour mixture and coffee mixture, ending with the flour mixture. Remove bowl from mixer stand and stir in chocolate pieces. Scoop into prepared cupcake liners and bake at 350 for 18 minutes. Cool cupcakes for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

While they cool, prepare your frosting. Beat butter for about 30 seconds until smooth. Add 1 cup of confectioners sugar, 3 Tbsp coffee, and vanilla. Continue to add sugar, about 1/4 c at a time. Add more coffee to reach desired consistency. I think I used about 4 Tbsp total.

Pipe or spread onto cupcakes and garnish with Pirouettes right before serving, if desired. Enjoy!!