Starlight mint cupcakes

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STARLIGHT MINTS

These fresh cupcakes look great as minis, but you can just as easily make them on standard cupcakes. All you need to do is make the crushed candy twists a little bigger to match the cupcake size. Add a few drops of peppermint extract to the batter for a more intense mint flavor.

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  • 48

Ingredients

  • 48 mini unfrosted vanilla cupcakes baked in white liners
  • 1 bag (12 ounces) clear mints, unwrapped and crushed slightly (see Candy of the month page)
  • 1 can plus 1/2 cup vanilla frosting
  • Red paste food coloring
  • 1 cup white decorating sugar

Preparation

Step 1


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a sheet pan with nonstick foil. Place the candies in a freezer-weight Ziploc bag, press out the excess air and seal the bag. Lightly crush the candies with a small hammer or the back of a pan.

2. Spread the crushed candies on prepared sheet pan. Bake until candies have just melted and are flat, about 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer the melted candy on the foil to a cutting board and cool slightly, about 1 minute. Use a pastry wheel with the zigzag edge and cut 4 strips 1 3/4 inch apart. Cut candy with a long straight knife crosswise on the diagonal, 1 inch apart, to make the small triangles. Let candy cool completely, about 15 minutes. Gently break pieces apart; set aside.

2. Tint 1/2 cup of the frosting bright red with the food coloring. Spoon the red and the remaining vanilla frosting into separate freezer-weight Ziploc bags, press out the excess air and seal the bags. Place the decorating sugar in a small shallow bowl.

3. Snip 1/2 inch corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting. Pipe a mound of frosting on top of the cupcakes. Smooth with an offset spatula. Snip a small corner from the bag with the red frosting. Starting from the outside edge, pipe and drag the frosting in an arc, towards the center of the cupcake. Repeat 4 more times around cupcake. Roll the tops in the sugar to cover completely. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.

4. Insert 2 candy pieces, pointed end in, on either side of each cupcake to look like the wrapper. Repeat with remaining candies and cupcakes.

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