From what I remember, when I was growing up St. Patrick’s Day was nothing but a reason to wear green and hang up paper shamrocks. That was in Pennsylvania where, I guess, there weren’t a whole lot of Irish. Here in New York, however, some people seem to think it’s on par with Thanksgiving or something of that caliber. For me, it’s a perfect opportunity to make a themed dessert so I did just that. (Last year I did the same thing when I made a really amazing Grasshopper Cheesecake!)
As usual, my recipe is coming out too late for you to make it this year. So bookmark it and try next year. Sorry but how am I going to post it BEFORE the holiday when I have to serve it – preferably fresh – ON the holiday?
So today we have Grasshopper Cupcakes… Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and topped with Crème de Menthe Mousse. They are very good, and the mousse on top is airy enough that the proportion of it isn’t overwhelming. This is the kind of cupcake most easily eaten with a fork. Well, unless you have a huge mouth. Which maybe you do. Go ahead, take a giant bite – I bet you get green mousse all over your nose.
A few substitutions are possible below. For the cupcake, you can either use a mint chocolate or just a plain (70-ish percent) chocolate and add some mint extract to taste. Similarly, for the mousse you can use the Crème de Menthe or again substitute that with some mint extract and green food coloring.
Happy St. Pat’s Day!
Grasshopper Cupcakes
adapted from: Cookie Madness
Mint Mousse:
14 large marshmallows
1/4 c whole milk
2 T Crème de Menthe
1 c heavy cream
Chocolate Ganache:
2 oz. 70% chocolate
4 T heavy cream
1 T powdered sugar
Cupcakes:
3 oz 70% chocolate, chopped or 3 oz mint flavored chocolate
5 T cocoa (natural or Dutch)
3/4 c hot water
3/4 c cake flour (ok to substitute all purpose flour here)
3/4 c sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
6 T vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 t vinegar
3/4 t vanilla extract
½ teaspoon peppermint (reduce if using mint chocolate)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare Crème de Menthe Mousse:
* Combine marshmallows and milk in a large microwave-safe mixing bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir well. Repeat if necessary, stirring every 10 seconds until the marshmallows are melted and smooth. Let cool.
* Stir in the Crème de Menthe. Whip the cream and fold all of the whipped cream into the cooled marshmallow mixture.
* Divide mixture evenly among 12 paper lined cupcake tins and put the pan in the refrigerator while you proceed with the recipe. Mousse needs about 2 hours to thicken. - Prepare Ganache Filling:
* Place chocolate, cream, and powdered sugar in small microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high power for 10 to 20 seconds and stir. Repeat, being careful not to over-heat the chocolate. Stir or whisk until smooth; transfer to refrigerator for 15-20 minutes or until slightly thickened. - Prepare Cupcakes:
* Place chocolate and cocoa in a mixing bowland pour the very hot water over. Whisk until smooth then cool in refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
* In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda together, set aside.
* Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar, vanilla and peppermint extract into the cooled chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the flour mixture.
* Divide batter between 12 baking cups and place 1 rounded spoon of ganache on top of each cupcake. (at this point, if you don’t have enough baking cups make sure the mousse is well set and remove the liners from the tin to reuse the tin. Just don’t do this too soon or the mousse will lose its form.)
* Bake 17-19 minutes, until cupcakes are set and just firm to the touch. Cool completely. - Assembly:
* When ready to serve, remove mint mousse cups from refrigerator. Carefully remove wrapper from one mousse cup and invert on top of a chocolate cupcake. Using a warm butter knife, gently smooth the sides of the mousse.
* To serve, top with shaved chocolate or chocolate syrup.
Serves: 12
Calories: 353
Sweet Jumbles 
Wow! That really looks like a professional cupcake that you’d buy from Crumbs or something – gorgeous!
Thanks for the compliment! They are delicious- you should try them!
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they do look very tasty…. would go great with this cup of coffee right now.
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