This week's cupcake is the second installment of my Halloween series. With a colour palate inspired by a classic Halloween character, Mr. Frankenstein, this chocolate cake concealing a mint oreo, topped with a gooey green mint buttercream frosting and sprinkled with mint oreo crumbs. (I served them up with a white chocolate cake eyeball to sweeten the deal.)
Chocolate Cupcake
1 cup Coca Cola (see My Comments)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup unsweetenedcocoa
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup plain yogurt (I used homemade)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 mint Oreos
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease pan(s).
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the Coca Cola and butter, whisking until the butter is completely melted; remove from heat. Whisk in the unsweetened cocoa powder and sugar until smooth and allow to cool. In a small dish combine the yogurt and vanilla, set aside. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Once the Coca Cola mixture has come to roughly room temperature, beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the dry ingredients to the Coca Cola mixture in thirds alternating with the yogurt/vanilla mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Pour ~1tablespoon of batter into each cake reservoir followed by a Mint Oreo cookie, then cover the cookie in more batter, allowing the cups to be 3/4 of the way full, and place the pan into the pre-heated oven. This recipe yielded 17 regular size cupcakes and baked for 15 minutes.
1 cup Coca Cola (see My Comments)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup unsweetenedcocoa
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup plain yogurt (I used homemade)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 mint Oreos
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease pan(s).
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the Coca Cola and butter, whisking until the butter is completely melted; remove from heat. Whisk in the unsweetened cocoa powder and sugar until smooth and allow to cool. In a small dish combine the yogurt and vanilla, set aside. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Once the Coca Cola mixture has come to roughly room temperature, beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the dry ingredients to the Coca Cola mixture in thirds alternating with the yogurt/vanilla mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Pour ~1tablespoon of batter into each cake reservoir followed by a Mint Oreo cookie, then cover the cookie in more batter, allowing the cups to be 3/4 of the way full, and place the pan into the pre-heated oven. This recipe yielded 17 regular size cupcakes and baked for 15 minutes.
Mint Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups icing/confectioner sugar
1 oz cream cheese
3 tbsp whip cream
1 tsp mint extract
green food colouring
Combine all ingredients and mix at medium speed until smooth (~2-3 minutes), scrapping down the sides as necessary.
Break up the remaining cookies and sprinkle the crumbs over the frosted cakes.
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups icing/confectioner sugar
1 oz cream cheese
3 tbsp whip cream
1 tsp mint extract
green food colouring
Combine all ingredients and mix at medium speed until smooth (~2-3 minutes), scrapping down the sides as necessary.
Break up the remaining cookies and sprinkle the crumbs over the frosted cakes.
The Panel
The judges raved about this week's flavour combination; in addition to commending the chocolate cake, the mint frosting was highly relished for it's mild mint aroma and perfect presentation. Mixed reviews as far as the degree of moisture. The mint Oreo in the center maintained it's crunch through baking, "a crucial addition for texture, flavour and aesthetic" according to CathyP, complimented by the crumbs sitting atop the frosting. Giovanni added that "3 out of 5 bites were amazing!" in direct reference to the cookie center. The lowest re this week came from Cocoa as her palate is not inclined to mint .
Peanut: "The cupcake reminded me of a thin mint."
Kupcake: "Mint Oreo in the middle was an explosion of minty-ness"
Diana: "Undoubtedly mint chocolate lovers delight."
My comments
This is the second time I use this chocolate cake recipe. I used it to make Crown and Coke cupcakes a couple weeks back, and really liked how the cake turned out, even though you weren't able to pull the Coke flavour from the cake. I felt that this week I finally mastered buttercream thanks to the addition of 1 oz of cream cheese; it isn't enough to make it cream cheese frosting but it just adds the extra element that I feel it needed to become perfection. For this reason, I reckon the presentation was flawless.
Peanut: "The cupcake reminded me of a thin mint."
Kupcake: "Mint Oreo in the middle was an explosion of minty-ness"
Diana: "Undoubtedly mint chocolate lovers delight."
My comments
This is the second time I use this chocolate cake recipe. I used it to make Crown and Coke cupcakes a couple weeks back, and really liked how the cake turned out, even though you weren't able to pull the Coke flavour from the cake. I felt that this week I finally mastered buttercream thanks to the addition of 1 oz of cream cheese; it isn't enough to make it cream cheese frosting but it just adds the extra element that I feel it needed to become perfection. For this reason, I reckon the presentation was flawless.