Chocolate Peppermint Twist Brownie Cupcakes

chocolate brownie cupcake, peppermint filling, chocolate ganache and peppermint twist topper.

Goodness me, I feel like the white rabbit in Alice and Wonderland, the Disney version that is with "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late for an important date". How boring it is when "life" gets in the way of baking cupcakes, but that's when it's great to turn to your never fail recipes like today's Chocolate Peppermint Twist Brownie Cupcakes.

I've used this batter many times before including the orange flavoured boomerang cupcakes, this time I'm using Lindt Mint Intense chocolate to give the cake batter an extra minty flavour but by all means if you can't get it replace it with the same amount of dark eating chocolate and a drop or two of peppermint extract/essence. 

Lindt Excellence Mint Intense flavours the cupcake batter

Chocolate Peppermint Twist Brownie Cupcakes

Ingredients

120g plain flour (4oz)

2 tbs *dark dutch process cocoa

3/4 tsp baking powder

100g block Lindt Excellence Mint Intense chopped (3oz)

170g butter (6oz)

215g sugar (7.5oz)

3 large  eggs room temperature

Method

We are going to purposely underbake the batter a little today so we end up with a slightly sunken centre that will hold the peppermint filling.

Pre heat oven to 180C (350F) line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners

Sift together flour, cocoa & baking powder, set aside. Place the butter & chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stir frequently until chocolate mix is melted and smooth. Cool for 15 minutes.

Use a wooden spoon to stir the sugar into the chocolate mixture & mix until combined. Stir in eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Fold in the flour mixture, until there is no traces of flour, but do be careful not to overmix.

Divide the batter between the 12 paper liners, bake 18-20 minutes, the cakes will look almost cooked with a slightly undercooked (indented) centres. Remove to a cooling rack for 5 minutes before removing cupcakes from pan to cool completely. 

Unfilled cakes keep up to 3 days in a covered container.

*use whatever cocoa you have if you can't get dark dutch processed cocoa. Dutch processed cocoa gives you a rich dark chocolate colour and isn't as bitter as other cocoas.  

Mint Layer

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 
1 1/2 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons of cream or crème fraîche 
3/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract/essence
green food coloring (optional) 

Method

In the bowl of your electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat all the ingredients until smooth. Add a few drops of green food coloring if you want the frosting green. If the frosting is too thick, add a little extra cream. The frosting should be just thin enough to spread/fill the cupcakes easily. Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cupcakes, making sure the centre indent is filled. Place in the refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes or until firm.

Chocolate Ganache

½ cup cream 
200g (7oz) dark eating chocolate chopped

Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan, remove from heat, add chocolate, stir until smooth.

Wait until your ganache is cool but still spreadable and spread gently over the mint filling in the cupcakes.

*the ganache will lose it's gloss once set, if you are not serving the cakes within an hour but want "gloss" a teaspoon of corn syrup stirred in after the chocolate has melted into the cream will preserve the gloss.

Peppermint Twist Topper

For the toppers I used commercial chewable peppermint lollies, 2 lollies and a drop of green food colour will make 12 twisted toppers. Though, simple chopped/crushed hard peppermint candy also makes an excellent topper.

chewable white mint becomes a twisted topper

See working with fruit chews for how to colour and soften a lolly. Make six twisted pieces from each lolly by rolling and stretching small pieces into random twisted shapes. Place a twist on top of each cake.

Happy Baking :)

You might be feeling more like a banana cupcake? Then how about Bundy Banana Grog Cupcake and Toffee Toppers

Comments

[Ashley]

Hi there! I just finished making these and they turned out great! - Just one question - do the tops usually crack when you bake them? Any idea what might cause this? I followed the recipe to the letter and can't figure out what the issues was. Cheers for the recipe!

[The Lone Baker]

Hi Ashley, the cupcakes are meant to be brownie cupcakes, so yes small cracks the top just like a chocolate brownie. The higher sugar to flour ratio results in a "sugar crust" that's what cracks.

I did use same recipe but with orange intense for the boomerang cupcakes, you can see the top on those here....

http://www.thelonebaker.com/journal/2010/3/23/my-boomerang-wont-come-back-chocolate-orange-cupcakes.html

I hope that helps Ashley :) thanks for the feedback.... much appreciated!

[Sarah]

Hi Jeniffer, I was wondering if you could let me know where you get your dutch process cocoa from. I live in Melbourne and have been having a hard time finding it for the last few weeks. I absolutely adore chocolate and mint together and the Lindt Intense Mint is one of my favourites. These cupcakes sound delicious and I've love to give them a try.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

[The Lone Baker]

Hi Sarah, I'm in Melbourne too... the cocoa used to be in all Coles and Woolworth's until a couple of years ago, now it's harder to get.

Okay, Leo's Fine Foods stock it, Maxi foods, Essential ingredient at Prahran Market (they package theirs themselves... tastes good but it is a little lighter coloured than some brands), David Jones food in the city. Most speciality delicatessens should carry it and some of the choc cafe's sprouting up all over Melbourne carry it.

Some people are saying their local Woolies is stocking Droste (mine doesn't) it's sometimes located in the import section with Dutch biscuits and the like. I use Droste most of the time and Valrhona for special occasions.
Brands to watch out for... Droste, Valrhona & Van Houten.

If all else fails, www.dutchfood.com.au stocks 3 or 4 different brands of it.

Hope this helps :)

PS Mint Intense is one of my favourites too!!

[Sarah]

Thanks Jeniffer! I'll have a look for those places. I had seen on one of the foodie forums (can't remember which one now) that Safeway's Homebrand cocoa in the tea/coffee aisle is dark dutch process cocoa. I bought a box today and I'm going to give it a go. I'm usually not a fan of Homebrand items, but I figured for just over $3 it was worth a shot.

I think I might make a trip into the city next week and see what I can come up with.

Thanks again!

[Jasmeen]

Hi Jennifer,

I just wanted to say thank you so much for posting this recipe :) I made it for a work morning tea and it was an all-'round winner :) I didn't have time to make the toppers so I used a bit of green pistachio Persian fairy floss instead (the pistachio flavour is very subtle so it didn't interfere with the mint very much!) and they looked great and tasted even better :)

I've (obviously) only JUST discovered this site and I think it and you are glorious!, and I wish you all the very best and look forward to seeing you update again :)

Jasmeen. xoxo

P.S. I use Droste too! The Shop-Rite in Griffith (Canberra) stocks it :) There is also a cute little gourmet food store run by this adorable elderly French gentleman in Haymarket (Sydney) that has it.

[The Lone Baker]

Hi Jasmeen, thank you so much for your lovely comment. I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe & I will be back to blogging & baking in August!!

Jeniffer :)

PS I wish I had access to a cute little gourmet store here run by "adorable elderly French gentleman" ... sounds so Julie & Julia :) & very unlike my latest trip to Safeway where the checkout girl showed my husband & myself her "new belly tattoo" ;)