Intensive Cake Unit

Tag: filled cupcakes

  • York Mint Snowflake Cupcakes

    Once…I made ugly snowflake cupcakes. 

    Nope, I wish I was joking! True story. Let me explain.

    My first mistake was to use white frosting. Next, tried piping snowflakes with candy melts and using them as cupcake toppers. I think I overheated the candy melts a bit, because they didn’t pipe well at all. I set them on an off-white stand to take pictures. Against a white background. (What was I thinking??) Anyway…I realized that the decorations just blended into the frosting! I don’t think I even saved pictures, cause man. It just didn’t work.

    So I went back to the drawing board. I melted my next round of candy melts more carefully. I also realized lack of color contrast part of my problem. Piping snowflakes onto dark peppermint patties made the snowflakes pop, and these York Mint Snowflake Cupcakes were born! 

    I know it’s not traditionally a “Christmas candy,” but York mints are one of my favorite chocolate peppermint candies….and I found a way to make them Christmas-ish! Candy melt snowflakes turn York mints into the perfect Christmas cupcake toppers! Paired with a rich chocolate cupcake and easy peppermint candy filling, these cupcakes were a huge hit and definitely one I’ll be making again!

    I didn’t think about it when I took the pictures, but a sprinkle of crushed peppermint candy would add a fun pop of color to these cupcakes too, if you’re feeling fancy. Recipe below – Merry Christmas, and happy baking! 

    FAQs: 

    “How do I store these cupcakes?”

    • Store in a cupcake carrier or sealable container; I often put a layer of plastic wrap over the top between the container and lid for a better seal. Cupcakes will keep at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the fridge for 3-5 days as long as they’re protected from drying out.

    “Do I have to make the cupcakes / frosting from scratch?”

    • Absolutely not if you don’t want to! You can substitute your favorite cake mix plus the ingredients the mix calls for; keep the baking pans the same! The cake layers will just be a little less rich. Substituting butter for oil, buttermilk for water, and adding an extra egg will help!

    • Store bought frosting is usually thinner than my recipe; add a 1/4 cup of extra powdered sugar at a time until you reach a consistency that is pipeable and stays in place on the cupcakes well.

    (Disclosure: As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases, and my posts often contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you!) 

    York Mint Snowflake cupcakes (chocolate cupcake, white mint frosting, peppermint patties with snowflakes)
    Print Recipe

    York Mint Snowflake Cupcakes

    White candy melt snowflakes turn York peppermint patties into the perfect Christmas cupcake toppers!
    Prep Time15 minutes
    Cook Time25 minutes
    Decorating time15 minutes
    Total Time55 minutes
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Christmas cupcakes, Snowflake cupcakes
    Servings: 24 cupcakes
    Calories: 310kcal
    Author: Sarah H

    Equipment

    Ingredients

    • 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (350g)
    • 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar (450g)
    • 1 ¼ cup cocoa powder (100g)
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • ¾ teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks, softened)
    • 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
    • 1 ½ cups buttermilk (350mL)
    • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Frosting

    Filling

    • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract (add to reserved frosting; see instructions)
    • ½ cup crushed peppermint candy or crushed candy canes (add to reserved frosting; see instructions)

    Decorations

    Instructions

    Cupcakes

    • Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (180C) or 325 F (160C) for a convection oven. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in bits of softened butter until no lumps of butter are visible and the mixture looks crumbly.
    • Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla until well combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Scrape down the bowl and beat on medium for another 20 seconds.
    • Fill each paper 2/3 full (using a large cookie scoop to transfer the batter makes this a quick and easy process). You may find that you have a little batter left over – I don’t recommend over-filling the cupcake tins or they may overflow.
    • Bake for 20-25 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow them to cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
    • This is an excellent time to make your frosting and/or pipe your snowflake decorations!

    Frosting & Filling

    • Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add peppermint extract and salt if needed and beat until well combined.
    • Remove about ¾ c of frosting and stir an additional 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract and crushed peppermint candy in to make peppermint cupcake filling.

    Decorating

    • To decorate your peppermint patties, melt down about half a bag of White candy melts and transfer them to a piping bag fitted with a small tip. Pipe three lines to make the six points of the snowflake, and then add angled lines to finish the snowflake design. (See the YouTube video below; its about 30 seconds long).
    • Once the cupcakes have cooled, you're ready to core and fill them -you can buy a cupcake corer, but you can also just do what I do and cut the centers out with a plastic knife. 😉  Pipe your peppermint filling into your cored cupcakes.
    • Transfer frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe frosting in large swirls onto your cupcakes (or however you feel like icing them).
    • Decorate the top of each frosting swirl with a decorated York mint! Enjoy!

    Video

    Notes

    Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 2.4g | Fat: 18.8g

    Did you make these York Mint Snowflake Cupcakes?

    Let me know how it went – or make my day and find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!

    Other recipes you may love…

    Pictured: Christmas Light Cupcakes, Sprinkle Christmas Tree Cake, Christmas Cupcakes 
    (Or click / tap the photos to be taken to the recipe pages!)

     

    Christmas Light Cupcakes
    Sprinkle Christmas Tree Cake
    Christmas Cupcakes
  • American Flag Cupcakes

    American Flag Cupcakes

    I have the perfect dessert 4th of July or Memorial day recipe for you – American Flag cupcakes!

    Did it sneak up on you too? I DON’T know how it happens – the 4th of July sneaks up on me EVERY year! I can’t seem to remember that coming to the end of June means that the 4th of July is just around the corner! 

    So…cue my yearly scrambling for quick and easy 4th of July party food. 

    (Which honestly – is a little pathetic. I’m in my 30s as I write this post. You’d think by now I’d have learned. Meh….nope. But I digress.) 

    These were easy and quick to put together. Some gel food coloring made the frosting colors come out exactly the way I wanted. And the arrangement made for a visually stunning display – up until they all got eaten, anyway! 

    These would be a great fit for the 4th, for Memorial Day, or for a military event or deployment homecoming. Lots of options! 

    “In the same boat and kind of short on time – any way to make this recipe any faster?” 

    • I mean obviously I recommend the recipes I posted below, but I know sometimes time is of the essence! You can substitute your favorite white cake mix plus the ingredients the mix calls for. The cupcakes will probably be a little less rich – but substituting butter for oil /buttermilk for water helps.

    • If you want to use canned / store-bought frosting, just know that it’s usually thinner than scratch recipes. But you can fix this by adding powdered sugar (a 1/4 cup at a time) until you reach a consistency that pipes and stays in place well.

    (Disclosure: As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases, and my posts often contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you!) 

    Don’t forget to pin this recipe for later! 

    American Flag Cupcakes (red, white, and blue cupcakes decorated and arranged to resemble the American flag)
    American Flag Cupcakes (red, white, and blue cupcakes decorated and arranged to resemble the American flag)
    Print Recipe

    American Flag Cupcakes

    Perfect for the 4th of July or Memorial day – make these insanely easy red, white and blue American Flag Cupcakes!
    Prep Time30 minutes
    Cook Time25 minutes
    Decorating time45 minutes
    Total Time1 hour 40 minutes
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: 4th of July Cupcakes, American Flag Cupcakes, Easy 4th of July desserts, Easy Red, White, and Blue desserts, Memorial Day cupcakes, Red, White, and Blue cupcakes
    Servings: 24 cupcakes
    Calories: 495kcal

    Equipment

    Ingredients

    Vanilla Cupcakes

    • 1 cup butter (melted and cooled)
    • 3 cups all purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • 2 cups granulated sugar
    • 5 large eggs
    • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 1 cup milk (I used whole milk)
    • ½ cup sour cream
    • liquid red food coloring (optional)
    • liquid bluefood coloring (optional)

    Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

    Filling (optional) + Decorations

    Instructions

    Cupcakes

    • (First – melt your unsalted butter and let it cool – this ensures it won’t cook your eggs when you add it!) Preheat your oven to 325℉, and prepare 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
    • Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
    • In a medium bowl, beat sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, milk and sour cream until well combined. Add the cooled melted butter and whisk again until well combined.
    • Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Don’t overmix. The batter will be fairly thick; this is normal.
    • Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 full. (I like to use a cookie scoop for this part!) If desired, add a couple of drops of red food coloring to 9 cupcakes / blue to 6 cupcakes, and swirl the color in with a toothpick.
    • Bake for 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Allow to cool completely before decorating. (This is a great time to make your frosting!)

    Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

    • Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk and vanilla until frosting reaches a smooth and pipeable and consistency.
    • Transfer about 1 cup of frosting to a small bowl; divide the remaining frosting in half. Color the smallest bowl navy blue, and one of the other bowls red (leaving the last one white).

    Filling (optional)

    • (I cored my cupcakes and filled them with chocolate ganache, but this step is 100% optional. To make ganache, microwave 6 ounces semisweet chocolate + 6 ounces heavy whipping cream together in 30-second increments on half power until melted & smooth, then cool until thick enough to transfer to cupcake centers.)

    Decorating

    • Arrange your cupcakes in a 6-by-4 rectangle. (If you’ve colored them, place the 6 blue cupcakes to the top left, and the remaining cupcakes in red and white stripes.)
    • Transfer frostings to piping bags. Pipe blue frosting onto the six top left quarter (2×3) cupcakes, and red and white frosting onto the remaining 9 cupcakes in red and white stripes (see photo).
    • Cut 6 small fondant stars, and add stars (and sugar pearls if desired) to the blue ones.
    • And you’re done! You’ll have an awesome-looking cupcake display…..right up until they all get eaten! Enjoy!

    Video

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 495kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g

    Mentioned in post –
    Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting 

    Did you make these American Flag Cupcakes? 

    Let me know how it went – or find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!

    You can also add a comment or a recipe rating at the bottom of the page! 🙂

    Other recipes you may love…

    (Click / tap the photos to be taken to the recipe pages!)

    Red White and Blue Brownies
    Red Velvet White and Blue Cake
    Red, White, and blue Upside Down Drip Cake
  • Thin Mint Cupcakes

    Thin Mint Cupcakes

    Ahh, Girl Scout cookie season…

    Anybody else love it…..with just a hint of dread? 😉

    The chocolate and mint combination constitutes one of my biggest weaknesses as far as desserts go; once there’s a box of Thin Mints in the house, all bets are basically off. And I have two nieces in Girl Scouts; there’s no getting away with not buying them! 🙂

    So what to do? Well….I found a solution way better than single-handedly eating the entire box myself – these Thin Mint Cupcakes! 

    Took these to work with me the day after I made them – problem solved!  I’m not kidding; they vaporised before the day was halfway out!

    Why you’ll love this Thin Mint Cupcake recipe! 

    • These Thin mint cupcakes feature a light mint cupcake base topped with mint frosting, a Thin Mint cookie, and chopped Andes mints.
    • But the best parts are hidden in the middle and at the cupcake base! Each cupcake has a Thin Mint cookie at the bottom, and a rich chocolate ganache filling. (Win, win, win, win, win, win, right?) 
    • Each one is a stunning combination of mint and chocolate from the Thin Mint base to the swirl of frosting and Thin Mint on top! 
    “Your recipe calls for cake mixes…can I use a scratch recipe instead?” 

    Absolutely! I’ve used cake mixes in the recipe below just as a time-saver; there are a lot of steps to the frosting/filling/decorating. But this post contains my favorite scratch mint cupcake recipe! 

    Okay. Nuff said. Recipe time!!

    (Disclosure: As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases, and my posts often contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you!) 

    Thin Mint Cupcakes topped with mint frosting and a Thin Mint cookie
    Print Recipe

    Thin Mint Cupcakes

    These Thin Mint Cupcakes feature a Thin Mint cookie base, mint cupcake, Creme de Menthe frosting, a Thin Mint cookie, and chopped Andes mints!
    Prep Time20 minutes
    Cook Time18 minutes
    Decorating time30 minutes
    Total Time1 hour 8 minutes
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Chocolate Mint Cupcakes, Mint Cupcakes, Thin Mint Cupcakes
    Servings: 24 cupcakes
    Calories: 497kcal

    Equipment

    Ingredients

    Thin Mint Cupcakes

    • 1 boxed white cake mix (ignore the package directions)
    • ½ cup butter (melted and cooled)
    • ½ cup buttermilk
    • ½ cup Creme de Menthe liqueur
    • ½ teaspoon mint extract
    • 5 egg whites

    Chocolate ganache filling

    Mint Cream Cheese Buttercream frosting

    • 8 ounces cream cheese (one package; softened)
    • 1 cup butter (two sticks, softened)
    • 6 cups powdered sugar
    • 2-4 T Creme de Menthe liqueur (to taste)
    • 1-2 T milk (if needed to reach desired consistency)
    • 2-3 drops liquid green food coloring

    Decorations

    Instructions

    Thin Mint Cupcakes

    • Preheat oven to 325 F. Line cupcake pans with liners and place a Thin Mint cookie in the base of each cup.
    • Combine melted butter, buttermilk, , Creme de Menthe, mint extract, and egg whites, water, and Creme de Menthe in a large mixing or stand mixer bowl. Blend in cake mix until combined. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula, and beat for about 2 minutes, until well blended.
    • Transfer batter into cupcake liners, filling each cup about 2/3 full.
    • Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the centers feel set and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before decorating - set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired. (This is a great time to prep your frosting and filling!)

    Mint Cream Cheese Buttercream frosting

    • Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with Creme de Menthe and mint extract. Add milk if needed to reach a pipeable consistency. Add food coloring and beat until well combined and smooth.

    Chocolate ganache filling

    • Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Add whipping cream and microwave on half power in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until fully melted and smooth. Mix in mint extract. Chill until thick enough to pipe into cupcake centers. (It will be the easiest to work with if you don't let it solidify completely though).
    • Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut about a 1/2 inch core from each center. (There are a few ways you can do this....you can buy a cupcake corer, you can try using the rounded end of a large piping tip, or....you can do what I do and cut the core out with a plastic knife. Up to you! I haven't the foggiest idea why cupcake crumbs don't stick to plastic knives like they do regular knives, but the plastic knife's been working well for me for years!)
    • Spoon or pipe ganache into cupcake centers.

    Decorating

    • Transfer mint frosting to a large piping bag fitted with an open star tip. Pipe frosting in large swirls onto each cupcake top. Press a Thin Mint cookie into the top of each frosting swirl. Sprinkle each cupcake with a bit of chopped Andes Mint. Done and done! Enjoy!

    Video

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 497kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g

    Did you make these Thin Mint Cupcakes?

    Let me know how it went – or make my day and find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!

    You can also add a comment or a recipe rating at the bottom of the page! 🙂

    Other recipes you may love…

    (Click / tap the photos to be taken to the recipe pages!)

    Moscow Mule Cake (topped with a Moscow Mule mug, lime twists, and mint leaves, slice cut out)
    Grasshopper (mint chocolate) CakeThin Mints Drip Cake
    Thin Mint Brownies