Deluxe Peppermint Mocha Porter Cupcakes

I bake cookies for Christmas all the time. Occasionally I throw in some candy or nuts. But how much can you really do with nuts? I wanted to embody what I love about Christmas into one dessert.

Every year, just after Thanksgiving… or lately, just before… the Starbucks red cups come out and every year… I have to learn Peppermint Mocha Self Control all over. By day, I’m a peppermint mocha fiend. By night, I’m a porter and stout aficionado. There’s nothing cozier on a cold, dark night (that starts at 4pm) like a glass of dark, roasty beer.

So why not have both? I’m no brewer, so a peppermint mocha stout is beyond my ability… but peppermint mocha porter cupcakes is not. Not to mention, I came across a fabulous Peppermint Bark Porter by Two Brothers that I could use.

I may have went a little overboard with these cupcakes, but that’s what makes them so damn special. So, not just cupcakes, but:

• chocolate-porter cupcakes
• flavored with coffee and peppermint extract
• filled with peppermint bark porter cream cheese
• frosted with mocha fudge frosting
• topped with peppermint cotton candy and a piece of peppermint bark

Hot damn! Get your cozy on.

Peppermint Mocha + Porter + Cupcake = Fuuuuuck

Deluxe Peppermint Mocha Porter Cupcakes*
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
½ cup butter, melted
½ tbsp coffee extract
½ tbsp peppermint extract
4 eggs
1 cup Greek plain yogurt
12 oz porter (preferably Two Brothers: Peppermint Bark Porter)
cooking spray
porter cream cheese filling (recipe below)
fudge frosting (recipe below)
peppermint cotton candy
peppermint bark (recipe below)

equipment
piping bags with filling tip and large frosting tip
cupcake wrappers

Preheat oven to 350°. Line cupcake tins with wrappers (24). Spray wrappers with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, blend cocoa, sugar, flour and baking soda.

Using a mixer, combine butter, coffee and peppermint extracts, eggs, yogurt and porter. Incorporate dry ingredients a cup at a time.

Fill wrappers about 2/3rds the way full with batter. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating halfway through. Test the center with a toothpick.

Remove from oven and let cool. Fill a piping bag (affixed with the filling tip). Fill each cupcake with a couple tablespoons of filling (the top will start to bulge a bit).

Fill your next piping bag with the fudge frosting. Frost each cupcake generously. Top with a mound of cotton candy and lay a small piece of peppermint bark on top.

*If you want to shortcut this part of the recipe, head on over to my Easy Choklat Stout Cupcakes recipe and use cake mix instead!

This Porter Cream Cheese Filling is good enough to eat by the spoonful… and I did.

Porter Cream Cheese Filling
16 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
½ cup porter (preferably Two Brothers: Peppermint Bark Porter)

Blend ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Fudge Frosting
recipe adapted from Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook
8 cups powdered sugar (2 lbs)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup butter, softened
⅔ cup boiling water
2 tsp coffee extract

In a mixing bowl, blend together powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add in butter, boiling water and coffee extract. Beat on low until combined. Beat for an additional minute on medium. Add additional powdered sugar if too thin, additional boiling water if it’s too thick.

Adding a piece of this simple-to-make peppermint bark will make people think you’re a baking deity.

Peppermint Bark
12 oz semisweet chocolate
12 oz white chocolate
1 ½ tsp peppermint extract
3 candy canes, chopped into small pieces.

Line a 9×13 baking dish with wax paper.

Melt semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler. Stir half the peppermint extract into the melted chocolate. Spread on the wax paper. Tap the baking dish on the counter to level it out. Put in refrigerator to cool.

Repeat process with the white chocolate. Melt and add in peppermint extract. Spread on top of the cooled semi-sweet chocolate. Sprinkle crushed candy canes on top. Let set up.

Once set, remove the wax paper from the baking dish. Break into pieces. Keeps for up to two weeks.