This is yet another recipe from our Jungle Baby Shower.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Cream together:

*3/4 cup Butter, at room temperature
*2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
*2 large Eggs
*2/3 cup Brown Sugar, packed
*2 teaspoons Vanilla

Add:

*1 cup Buttermilk, I used powder Buttermilk reconstituted
*1/2 cup Sour Cream, at room temperature
*2 tablespoons Water
Sift the following and then add to the above wet ingredients:
*1 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
*1 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Powder
*1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda

Mix in a mixer until well combined. Add batter to muffin tins, with cupcake liners and fill them three fourths full. Bake the cupcakes in a pre-heated oven at 350*F. for 18-20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting. This recipe made 24 cupcakes, but it will depend on how full you fill each cupcake cup/liner with the batter.

Recipe adapted from Food Net Work

Buttercream Frosting

*1 cup Butter, 8 ounces
*1/2 cup Shortening, 4 ounces
*1 pound 4 ounces Confectioners’ Sugar, about 1/2 bag plus 1/2 cup
*1-2 Egg Whites, 1.25 ounces or 1/3 cup Water and 3 teaspoons Meringue Powder
*1/2 teaspoon Lemon Juice
*1 teaspoon Vanilla
*1/2 teaspoon Peppermint extract
*Green Food Coloring

Cream all the above ingredients together. Then blend in mixer on medium speed, then on high speed until light and fluffy. Being careful not to over mix.

Optional: For a softer Buttercream Frosting add 2 tablespoons of Water. We wanted a little bit stiffer frosting so we left it out. We also refrigerated the frosting before piping it onto the cupcake.

Decorating Cupcakes:

Pipe frosting onto cupcake leaving a rim on the cupcake open to frost with ganache, frost with ganache around the edge of the cup cake and sprinkle mini chocolate chips to the ganache edge of cupcake. Add a mint cookie if desired.

Chocolate Ganache

*9-12 ounces Bittersweet Chocolate, broken in pieces
*1 cup Heavy Cream or I used Whipping Cream and it turned out great
*1 teaspoon Peppermint extract

Put the above ingredients in a double boiler (except for peppermint extract) on medium low heat until melted and chocolate looks glossy then add peppermint extract. Let cool and Drizzle onto frosted Decorated Cupcakes. (This is also the ganache to frost around the edge of the cupcake.)

Decorating idea and ganache adapted from The Crafting Foodie

Enjoy!

Jessica