Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Our nanny Jessica is a very talented baker and cake decorator. She has created wonderful cakes for my kid's birthdays and other events - the Spiderman cake, fancy 1 cakes, and simply gorgeous cakes. They always taste good, and they're beautiful, too. But even I am not so heartless as to request that our fabulous nanny bake her own birthday cake. So, once a year, I take over the birthday cake job.

I am only marginally suited to this job. I am a fantastic cook and baker. I make delicious cakes, divine frostings, and fabulous fillings. However, I lack the skill or the patience to make them look good. I do not decorate. My background is in math and computers. I am much more focused on the substance, logic, and meaning of things than on their appearance. This applies everywhere in life. I began wearing lipstick at the ripe old age of 28. It is only in the last year that I have learned how to successfully wear eye makeup and put together an elegant daily outfit. Given that I'm a novice at decorating myself, it logically follows that I would have so little interest in decorating food.

I was inspired recently by a beautifully designed cookbook, Cupcakes Galore, by Gail Wagman. The book is filled with gorgeous, full-page pictures of cupcake creations like "After Eight Cupcakes", "Day of the Dead Cupcakes", and "Tarte Tatin Cupcakes with Caramelized Apples". My mouth was watering looking at the pictures, and I could hardly wait to share the book with Jessica. I had her browse through it one day and pick out the cupcakes she wanted me to make for her birthday. She chose the "After Eight Cupcakes", billed as "Chocolate Mint Heaven". I could hardly wait until her birthday!

The resulting cupcakes, pictured right, were somewhat disappointing. I loved the concept, and the frostings were divine. The flavors of cupcakes and frostings were good and well-balanced. However, the cupcakes themselves were quite a disappointment. I followed the batter recipe exactly, and it was the consistency of fudge. It's very hard to get fudge into cupcake liners. I knew that something that thick would make a dense, heavy cupcake, and I was right. The finished cupcakes had the texture and consistency of bran muffins. Not at all what I wanted.

I will probably make a few more recipes from this book. If the results are as uneven as these were, I will probably use the book for inspiration and frosting recipes, and search out recipes for the actual cupcakes.

Here's my modified version of After Eight Chocolate Mint Cupcakes.

Start with a proven chocolate cupcake recipe (there are good ones here, here, and here). You can even use a good mix that you like! Stir into the batter:

• a SCANT 1/8 teaspoon mint extract
• 10 Andes Mints, chopped into bits

Line cupcake pan with liners, fill 2/3 full with batter, and bake as directed
in recipe. Remove from oven, and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove
cupcakes from pan and let cool on rack. When cupcakes are completely
cool, frost with mint frosting (below).

Mint Frosting

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
scant 1/8 teaspoon mint extract
Green food coloring, if desired
2-3 Tablespoons milk

Mix the butter in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add sugar, then mix until smooth, creamy, and light, 3-5 minutes. Add extracts and food coloring (just a couple of drops) and mix until incorporated. Mix in milk, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until frosting is at desired spreadable consistency. Frost completely cooled cupcakes.

Chocolate Ganache

1/3 cup heavy cream
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces

Place cream in a small ceramic bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds - 1 minute. Place pieces of chocolate in cream and let stand for 2-3 minutes. Whisk, gently at first then more vigorously, until chocolate is smooth and creamy. (You can microwave 10 seconds at a time if chocolate is not soft enough). You can either spoon or drizzle the warm ganache over the cupcakes.

If desired, top each cupcake with a Junior Mint or York Peppermint Patty.