4-Layer Cake: (Sh)Ande's Mint Cupcakes

Birthday cupcakes are all about the recipient, which is why I've renamed these Ande's Mint cupcakes to Shande's Mint cupcakes for my friend Shannon on her day of honor.

The Andes Mint cupcake has been teasing me on Pinterest for some time now, and they just so happened to be what Shannon wanted. The picture is so pretty, and although I'm not a fan of mint, who doesn't love those Andes Mints? But a mint flavored cupcake didn't appeal to me much. However, baking cupcakes you don't think you'll like can do wonders for your diet. I didn't taste test every five minutes like I usually do.

"Mint" must have heard that I don't care much for him, as he set out to ruin my baking experience at every possible chance.

The mint filling was anything but simple. If you're going to make these, I highly recommend purchasing a cupcake injector. I realized my severe need for one of those as I made a mess of chocolate all over the kitchen with my own less intelligent technique. After all the hassle, I don't think you could even taste the mint filling.

In my first frosting attempt, "mint" got the best of me again. I began mixing a stick of butter and a package of cream cheese together. When I went to add the teaspoon of peppermint extract, half the bottle dumped into the bowl! There was the dilemma of moving forward with extremely minty frosting, or sadly using another package of cream cheese and stick of butter. The strong smell of the frosting seemed almost poisonous, and I didn't think it would be very nice to poison Shannon with an overdose of peppermint on her birthday. Down the garbage it went.

The next batch of frosting went much smoother, but I think I added to much green dye to it. It's not as light as the photo. I guess that makes it more original?

I broke down and tried one after the cupcake received raving reviews at Shannon's birthday dinner. I'll admit, the mint had me hooked. I refrigerated the ones I left at home, because I think of "cool" when I think of mint. It tasted very cool and minty. Like I said, I didn't get the oozing effect of the mint injection that I was hoping for. Maybe it would have been different if I had the right tool. The frosting was so minty that it may have overridden the mint filling.

Overall, the Shande's Mint cupcake is a great cupcake for mint lovers, and apparently for non-mint lovers like myself, too. I think I'll have more requests for these in the future.

Shande's Mint Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Chocolate Cakes:

1 cup sour cream

½ cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

¼ cup water

½ cup buttermilk

Devil’s Food Cake Mix

Chocolate Mint Filling:

1/3 cup chocolate chips

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

¼ cup powdered sugar

Mint Buttercream:

8 oz cream cheese

6 tablespoons butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

green food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

2. Using a whisk, mix sour cream, oil and vanilla extract together. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well in between each addition.

3. Alternate adding the cake mix and liquids (buttermilk and water), starting and ending with the cake mix.

4. Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until and inserted knife come out clean.

5. Chocolate Mint Filling: Melt chocolate chips and heavy cream together in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium heat. Stir in peppermint extract and powdered sugar.

6. When cupcake come out of the oven, use a squeeze bottle to fill the cupcake with the filling, or use the filling as a ganache and dip the tops of the cakes into it.

7. Mint Buttercream: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream and peppermint extract and beat well. Add green food coloring and stir well

8. Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes and top with extra Chocolate Mint Filling and an Andes Mint.