Grasshopper Cupcakes

When it comes to purchasing, everyone has their weakness for something that they have way too much of and want more. Some men have to have every type of fishing lure ever made and there are many women that can never get enough shoes. In addition to having them, they enjoy shopping for them as well.

My weakness is for baking utensils and cookbooks. I try to curb my weakness by being careful of which items are purchased. I ask myself how much use will I get out of it and is the usage worth the expense. Which brings me to the little cupcake separators that it took to make the two toned treat above. Tagged at under $9.00 for 6, I decided they were worth it. I have made several different combo cupcakes in the past and I like the idea of two flavors side by side, rather than top and bottom.

This is a cupcake take on the sweet, after-dinner drink called the Grasshopper. In case you are not familiar with the drink, it is made with creme de cacao and creme de mint. The drink originated back in the 1950's. The owner of a bar located in the French Quarter section of New Orleans, Louisiana came up with this tasty blend.

Chocolate and mint always make a good pairing and this moist cupcake is a perfect example. The frosting is a mix of mint, creme de cacao and cream cheese. Unlike buttercream, the frosting is thinner so no fancy piping was done. In review, I think buttercream would have masked the cake flavor, so I was pleased with the choice. Also, the creme de mint candies on top made them even better. This recipe makes about 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes.

Grasshopper Cupcakes
adapted from Spiked Desserts


Ingredients/Cupcakes
1 cup or 2 sticks of butter (room temp)
1 tsp clear vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
4 oz white chocolate
4 eggs
3 tbs green creme de menthe
3 tbs clear creme de cacao
green food coloring (optional)
1/2 tsp mint extract
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder


Ingredients/Frosting
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 tsp mint extract
2 tsp creme de cacao
2 tsp creme de mint

Grease the top edge of muffin cavities, then place paper liners in each cavity.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place butter in bowl and beat until smooth with a stand mixer. Add the sugar and cream both together until smooth and light. Then add each egg, beating about 30 seconds between additions. Turn off mixer and leave bowl set in stand.

Place a double boiler over medium high heat. Once the water comes to a simmer, fill the top pot with the white chocolate and let melt. After all is melted, remove double boiler from heat and remove top pot.

Go back to the mixer and turn on low and start beating the butter/sugar batter again. As the mixer is running, slowly add the melted chocolate and then the vanilla extract. Be sure to stop and scrape down the sides occasionally. Once blended, turn mixer off. Remove bowl and set aside.

Take out 3 bowls. In one bowl sift together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, fold 1/3 of the sifted ingredients into the sugar/butter batter. Add 1/2 of the sour cream and blend. Complete this process again and then fold in the last of the sifted ingredients.
Divide batter equally into the remaining 2 bowls.

Mix 3 tbs of creme de menthe, mint extract and green food coloring (optional) into one batch of batter. For the remaining batter, blend in 3 tbs of creme de cacao.

Now comes the tricky part. If you have the separators for the batter it is helpful, just place in the center of each cavity and fill one side up 2/3 of the way with one batter. Then do the same with the other batter and remove separator. Without a separator, just spoon in best you can on each half of the cavity with each flavor of batter.

Once all the batter is in the muffin cavities, place pans in oven to bake. Bake until tester comes out clean. Bake time should be about 16-19 minutes. Remove and let cool in pan 1 minute and then transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack. Cool completely prior to frosting.

Start on the frosting by sifting the powdered sugar into a bowl of a stand mixer. Then cut the cream cheese into cubes and drop into the sugar. Add the creme de menthe, cream de cacao and mint extract. Start mixer and beat on low speed for about 2 minutes. Turn the speed up to medium and beat until creamy and completely blended. Top cupcakes with frosting, using a knife to swirl on top. Remove wrappers of candy. Grate, split or do both for the topping. Sprinkle on grating and/or stick 2 pieces of the split candy into the center of the cupcake top.

Tips and Notes:
1. I used Batter Babies brand of cupcake dividers. They do not fit tight into the muffin cavity, but the addition of one type of batter on a side does holds them up so you are free to add the batter to the other side.

2.The frosting is personal preference. It does not have to be a blend of both flavors, so add flavor how you want.

3. As with all cupcakes, frost as soon as cool to avoid having the top of cupcake drying out.
                                             **LAST YEAR: PBC Cookie Biscotti Sticks**

Raspberry Lager Cupcakes

Red velvet cupcakes are always ranked as one of the favorites when it comes to baking contests.  Something about the color and that touch of cocoa really appeals to the majority of cake and cupcake lovers. With that appeal, you run across numerous recipes that have been modified from the original.  One thing I have seen is the color change; blue velvet, green velvet...etc.

However, this is one twist that does not involve a change of color. This recipe is actually a red velvet recipe with a fruity, boozy twist. It incorporates raspberry beer. Even though raspberry and chocolate is a delicious combination, my first concern was about the raspberry flavor. I did not want it to taste "artificial", so I took some time to find a naturally flavored beer. I came across a Belgium beer, Lindeman's Frambois Lambic. Other than being naturally flavored, the size of the bottle (25 oz) was a benefit since the recipe calls for more than 12 oz of beer.

This recipe scored very high in flavor and texture. As you can see by the bottom picture, the cake was nice and moist. The brush of raspberry syrup on top gave them an extra pop of delicious fruit flavor. Also the obvious, but perfect, choice of topping is the cream cheese frosting.This recipe makes about 2 dozen cupcakes, but you may try 1 1/2 times the recipe if you are bringing this to a potluck or family get together. You definitely want to make sure no one is left out when it comes to eating one of these special cupcakes.....

Raspberry Lager Cupcakes
adapted from Just a Pinch website

Ingredients/Cupcakes
1 tsp vanilla
1 oz red food coloring
2 eggs
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup raspberry beer
1 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter (room temp)
3/4 cup of regular flour
2 cups cake flour
3 tbs cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Ingredients/Topping
3-4 cups powdered sugar
8 oz cream cheese (room temp)
8 oz butter (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla
24-30 fresh raspberries for garnish (optional)
1 crumbled cupcake for sprinkling

Ingredients/Soaking Syrup
1 1/2 cups raspberry beer
8-10 fresh raspberries, mashed

Start by making the soaking syrup.  Fill a saucepan with the beer and mashed raspberries.  Bring the mixture to a slow boil and stir. Let it cook down to about 1/2 of the original amount. This should take about 7-10 minutes.  Place strainer over a heat proof bowl and strain liquid. Use the back side of a spoon to separate the fruit from the seeds, scraping the inside of the strainer. Once strainer holds nothing more than seeds, set bowl of strained liquid aside to cool and discard seeds.

To make the cupcakes, begin by greasing the top edge of your cupcake cavities and insert paper liners for approximately 2 dozen cupcakes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together raspberry beer and food coloring. Set aside. Then fill the bowl of a standard mixer with the oil, butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed, occasionally scraping down the sides, for about 3 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy. Drop in one egg and beat for 30 seconds. Add the other egg and beat again. Pour in cider vinegar and vanilla extract and blend liquids into batter until incorporated.

Using a third bowl, sift together 2 types of flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Fold 1/3 of this mixture into the batter. Pour in 1/2 of the raspberry beer/food coloring liquid. Stir until thoroughly blended. Repeat this process, using 1/2 of the remaining dry ingredients and all of the liquid. Lastly, fold in the last bit of the dry ingredients.

Using a scoop, fill each lined cupcake cavity with batter. Fill to approx. 2/3 full. Place both pans in oven and bake for 10 minutes and rotate pans. Bake for an additional 7-10 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in pans about 5-7 minutes and then carefully transfer to cooling rack. Wait another 5 minutes and then brush lightly with soaking syrup. The brushing step will be in two sessions, about 3 minutes apart. This will give it time to soak in prior to the second session.

Cupcakes can be frosted once completely cooled.

For the frosting, add the cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer. Then beat until no lumps remain and both ingredients are completely blended and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and beat again for about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl. Remove bowl from stand mixer and sift in 1 cup of powdered sugar. Place bowl back in stand mixer and beat until no dry ingredients remain. Continue with the process, adding the powdered sugar until frosting reaches the desired consistency.

Take one of the cooled cupcakes (preferably the ugliest, misshapen one) and place in mixer or food processor and process until you have fine crumbs.

Pipe frosting onto top of cupcakes and then sprinkle cupcake crumbs on top.  If desired, place 2 raspberries on center of top, just prior to serving.

Tips and Notes:
1. You will have some leftover soaking liquid.  Be sure not to "oversoak" your cupcakes, this will make them very fragile to handle and insure that they will fall apart when someone trys to eat them later.

2. How much food coloring or if you use any is personal preference.

3. The soaking liquid idea can be beneficial in instances where the flavor has baked right out of the cupcake for some reason. The recipe will need to be tweaked more, but you have a way to save these particular cupcakes from the error bin. Making a syrup with the flavoring and brushing on top will add back what was baked out.
                                       **Last Year: Citrus Syrup Tea Cakes***