Hint O Mint Cupcakes

Before, I was SO not a fan of the whole mint and chocolate combination but I am slowly learning to appreciate all the different flavors of food and experimenting on different combinations of them. So, I came to appreciated the whole mint thing. I just didn't like when I bit into something that was supposed to be chocolaty and nutty turned into something that was laced with toothpaste. BUT I'm over that now and I kinda like it, I APPRECIATE it, all right? My boyfriend loves the stuff and so does my mom. She keeps a stash of Andes Mint Chocolates hidden in the house somewhere at all times. So these cupcakes are for them.

I made a dark chocolate cake and right before I put them into the baking cups I put about half a cup of Andes Mint Baking Chips in the batter.

Here's the buttercream. I didn't know how to make it mint-like so I guessed. I added about a tablespoon and a half of creme de menthe to 1 pound of buttercream. It still didn't give that mint taste that I was looking for but any more and the buttercream would have been too soft and tasted like a cocktail.

While the cupcakes cooled, I practiced on my piping. I have to make some cupcakes for my cousin and she asked if I could pipe out some Christmas trees for the topping and I said sure, knowing that my piping skills are crap. Obviously, look at the above picture. Disgusting... blech! You could totally tell that I was getting frustrated towards the top.

Keep it simple, keep it clean. You can't go wrong. Aren't they cute? Lined up like that? All uniform? A couple of months ago you could tell the difference from each cupcake because I didn't know how to make the same swirl on each cupcake. One would have too much while the other one had too little. One would look like I squeezed the piping bag too hard, which I did, because the buttercream would be hanging off of the edges and there was no design. Just a glop of what is supposed to be frosting. I'm getting there, people. I'm getting there...

Oh! This Thursday is the Meetup for Iron Cupcake SF! I can't wait! I get to meet people outside of my laptop who love cupcakes as much as I do!!!