Mint chocolate, you either love it or you hate it, obviously I am team love it. This recipe is for chocolate cupcakes and then I've given options to either make mint choc chip or orange choc chip icing! You could also just cover them in ganache, that would be epic!
These cupcakes are super simple and easy to make, apart from overcooking them, it would be hard to mess up! A great one to make with the kids, decorate as you please.
I'm giving a recipe for Swiss meringue buttercream, as it's what I used in these photos and it pipes so beautifully. However, you can use American buttercream, which is a bit easier to make. You will find a recipe here (just swap the coconut milk for normal milk).
Top tip for this recipe, if you're going to use a piping bag, make sure those choccy chips are chopped as fine as possible, as you don't want them getting stuck in your piping nozzle!
Makes 12-14
Chocolate Cupcakes
125g butter
60g cocoa powder
2 tsp espresso powder + 1/2 cup water (OR brew a double shot of espresso, pour into a cup measure and top up with water to reach 1/2 cup, you can use decaf or just sub for only water if making for kids)
135g flour
185g caster sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
3 egg whites
225g caster sugar
300g butter, at room temperature
Flavourings:
Peppermint OR orange flavouring
Green OR orange food colouring (gel is preferable)
100g dark chocolate, very finely chopped
Preheat oven to 180˚C. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
Place butter, cocoa and espresso+ water/coffee into a small pot on low heat. Bring to a simmer and whisk until all the butter has melted.
Place flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add cocoa mixture and whisk to combine. Add milk then whisk and finally add egg and whisk together.
Pour mixture into prepared tin (only fill 3/4, these rise quite a lot and you need to save room for icing!). Bake cupcakes for 13-15 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean (times may vary depending on the size of your tin or muffin liners). Allow to cool completely before icing.
To make the Swiss meringue buttercream, place egg whites and sugar in a large bowl or bowl of your stand mixer. Place over a pot of boiling water and whisk continuously until the sugar is dissolved, it will take about 5 minutes (test it by rubbing some between your finger and thumb to see if any sugar granules remain).
Transfer the bowl to your stand mixer or get your electric beaters out and whip until a stiff-peak meringue forms. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it's all incorporated. Add your desired colour, flavour and whip again. Then fold in chocolate chips and transfer to your piping bag.
When cupcakes are completely cool, decorate with buttercream.
