Have Cupcakes Will Travel

Last week I traveled to Dubuque, IA to surprise my friend Alicia for her birthday.  When we first decided to plan this surprise, I knew I wanted to bake cupcakes for this special occasion.  When I asked Alicia's husband what flavor I should make, he said something with Andes Mints.  I pages through a few cookbooks but didn't find anything that jumped out at me.  Then I remembered the Devil's Food Cupcake Vodka I had bought but have yet to really experiment with.  I knew the addition of this would be a great way to help a friend celebrate her {30th} birthday!  I decided to just head into the kitchen and experiment.  I was very happy that my first batch turned out tasty and perfect, I didn't have to change a thing.  The hardest part of this recipe was figuring out what to call these cupcakes.  My sister came up with, "The Devil Made Me Do It, Mint".  I loved that but wanted something just a tad shorter, I settled on Devil Mint Cupcakes. 

Devil Mint Cupcakes

¾ cup sugar

2 lg. eggs
6 oz.  bitter-sweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup butter
3 Tbs. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. Devil’s Food Vodka
1 cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ package Andes Mints, chopped

In a small sauce pan, melt chocolate with butter and stir in cream.  Allow to cool.   Pre-heat oven to 350 and prepare pans with cupcake liners.  This recipe will make approx. 14 cupcakes.   In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Using a mixer, combine sugar and eggs.  Beat on medium for about 3 minutes.  With mixer on low, pour in melted chocolate mixture.  Stir in vanilla and vodka.   Add flour mixture and stir until well combined.  Pour into prepared cups. Top each cup with chopped Andes Mints.   Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Devil Mint Frosting

¾ cup butter

2 Tbs. heavy cream
1 Tbs. + 1 tsp.  Devil’s Food Vodka
5 cups powdered sugar
¼ tsp. peppermint extract
Green food coloring
2 oz. dark chocolate, melted
½ package Andes Mints, chopped

Using stand mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy.  Add 1 cup of powdered sugar.  Blend until well combined.  Add heavy cream and 1Tbs. vodka.  Beat in additional powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Separate frosting into two batches, leaving half in stand mixer.  No need to be exact, just eyeball it J  To the half in the stand mixer, add 1 oz.  melted chocolate and 1 tsp. vodka.  To the other half, add 1 tsp. peppermint extract and a drop of green food coloring.  Combine the two frosting mixes side by side in a large pastry bag fitted with a star tip.  Pipe on cupcakes in a swirl pattern.  Top with chopped Andes Mints and drizzle with last 1 oz. melted chocolate.

Though these cupcakes contain booze, they can easily be made without IF you prefer.  The booze content in these cupcakes is far less than the drunken gummy bears and jello shots that a co-worker of Alicia's made her for her birthday!  You could also add the chopped mints in the batter but adding them to the top prevents them from sinking to the bottom of your cupcake.  I'm not really sure how you can go wrong with a chocolate and mint combo, so make any adjustments you need/want.  This was one of the first recipes I didn't use a base recipe to adapt from.  I like days like that in the kitchen, when I am feeling inspired and things work out my way. 

These ended up being the perfect cupcakes for a celebration and surprise visit.  As with any visit with far away friends, it just went by way too fast.  There were cupcakes, wine tasting, visiting with "old" friends, and walking along the mighty mississippi, what more could I ask for!

I made it home on another special birthday to celebrate!  Izzy turned 4 last week!  She had a nice Dentastix served on a Birthday plate and a new  s'more stuffed toy!  Maybe next time I'll bake some dog friendly cupcakes too.  

  I love a road trip, even if just for a couple days.  I just got back from another quick road trip to do some shopping with my cousin.....and of course sampled some new cupcakes!  I have a much longer road trip on my bucket list.  I wonder how many cupcake stops I could make driving cross country?!?

Sharing this post at A Pinch of Joy,  Crazy for Crust,  Thirty Handmade Days,
 Hoosier Homemade, Bakeaholic Mama, and Shaken Together.

**Neither Cupcake Vodka or Andes Mints sponsored this post, just two products I love.**