Peppermint Cupcakes

In the last two weeks I have conducted several baking experiments that I was too embarrassed to post on the blog. I made my first ever Angel Food cake with the new Kitchen Aid Mixer, but it stuck to the pan and came out in pieces. I tried a double layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with mini chocolate chips and vanilla frosting on top, but it was not very photogenic. I also made a quite decadent and a batch of brownies with cream cheese and chocolate chips, but they crumbled in a million pieces after I pulled them out of the pan. All of the recipes tasted good, but I have a lot of work to do on my finishing. Finally last week, I managed to successfully make a batch of peppermint cupcakes from a cupcake recipe book that my good friend Stephanie gave me for my birthday last year. These were a better site to see then my previous experiments. The recipe (using a box cake mix) made very moist cupcakes with just enough mint to be refreshing. I combine the cupcakes with the regular old canned vanilla frosting and some sprinkles and that’s it.

What you need:
1 package white cake mix
1 1/3 cup water
3 egg whites
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
3 to 4 drops red liquid food coloring
1 container prepared vanilla frosting
½ cup crushed peppermint candies (I used sprinkles because I didn’t have peppermints)
Muffin Pan
Paper baking cups

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees and line muffin tin with baking cups.
2. Prepare cake mix as usual and add peppermint extract and food coloring while beating with electric mixer.
3. Spoon batter in muffin cups and bake 20-22 minutes.
4. Remove and cool on cooling rack
5. Spread frosting and sprinkle with crushed candies (or sprinkles).