Leprechaun Cupcakes

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd make some peppermint fudge cupcakes (I adapted David Liebowitz's black bottom cupcake recipe from The Great Book of Chocolate). Earlier in the week I made yellow cake cupcakes with fudge icing with my wonderful new silicone cupcake cups (I definitely recommend these; you can find them at Crate and Barrel) and frosting set (also from Crate and Barrel). I'm new to the whole frosting game, so I will definitely admit that this frosting job is far from perfect. I guess I'll just have to make more and more cupcakes until I get it right! Frosting aside, these are the most moist cupcakes I've ever tried; they are fluffy and rich, complimented well by the cool mint flavor of the icing. YUM.
Makes 24 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:
3 cups of all-purpose flour
10 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups water
2/3 cups vegetable oil
2 tbsp. white vinegar
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. baking soda (long day~ I omitted this ingredient, and they still came out great!)
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. vanilla

Cupcake Assembly:
Mix wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Pour into baking cups and bake for 20-25 minutes at 330 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. peppermint extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup milk
4-6 drops of green food coloring

Frosting Assembly:
Mix ingredients on high until combined. Spoon frosting into a pastry bag (or plastic bag; snip of the tip for easy application) fitted with the tip of your choice. Begin frosting from the outside towards the center. Cupcakes should keep 4-5 days if covered and refrigerated. I also recommend sprinkling green sugar on top if you happen to have some in your pantry.

Mmmmm....fudge and mint!

This is an adaptation of my basic brownie recipe that I use all the time. You can reinvent this recipe a million different ways, from adding raspberry jam to making a peanut butter/cream cheese topping that bakes right into the brownies. It's one of my husband's favorite desserts and is a great base for a sundae. It's so easy to make that it was the first thing I cooked after coming home from the hospital when my daughter was born.

Fudge Mint Brownies














2 cups butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. Creme de Menthe
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup Andes mint pieces

Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and Creme de Menthe. Add dry ingredients and mix. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan and sprinkle with Andes mint pieces. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting.