Mint chocolate chip cupcakes
These cupcakes are so quick and easy to make but so effective! They have an amazingly tasty peppermint buttercream laced with dark chocolate chips... so good it's like ice cream on top of your cake. The sponge is a richer version of my standard chocolate cupcake recipe which you can also find on my page. But this cake is much richer and it's the buttercream that really helps it stand out. Whenever I make them I get really great reactions. People seem to like them a lot. The recipe itself makes 12 to 14 standard sized cupcakes but mini cupcakes can also be achieved with this recipe.
Ingredients
Makes: 12 cupcakes
- For the cake
- 180g baking spread or unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 180g light brown caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 120g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 6 tablespoons boiling water
- 100g cocoa powder
- For the buttercream
- 300g icing sugar
- 250g cubed unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 110g cocoa powder
- 4 to 5 tablespoons double cream (or more if you like it really rich)
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- a few drops green gel food colouring
- 1 standard sized bag of dark cholocate chips (about 120g)
Method
Prep:30min ›
Cook:12min ›
Ready in:42min
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 160 C Fan / Gas 4. Line a muffin tray with cupcake cases.
- In a bowl cream the sugar and butter together. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the flour, baking powder, boiling water and cocoa powder and mix till smooth.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to place the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about halfway up.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until the cake tester is clean.
- Leave to cool in the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- While the cakes cool sieve the icing sugar into a bowl with all of the buttercream ingredients except the chocolate chips. Mix until smooth before adding the chocolate chips.
Mix briefly before spooning onto the cupcakes.
Decorate with milk chocolate buttons or leave plain
Tip
Because of the chocolate chips in the buttercream it is super difficult to pipe the buttercream so I find spooning it on is a far better method
