… Just so ya’ll know I’m not crazy, Pigs and peppermint have gone together for quite a long time- Click HERE for mor information on the Peppermint Pig Christmas tradition.

One of my favourite things about winter is the sudden availability of peppermint ice cream.

You know, the pink kind with the little chunks of peppermint candy in it. The kind that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy and wintery just smelling it.

In my teens, I was obsessed with Schwans brand peppermint ice cream. My mom had started making regular orders to the schwans delivery man when I was 13 or so, and that was one of my first requests for her to order. It was smooth and creamy and perfect. It was a beautifully bright shade of pink, filled with all sorts of chunks of peppermint candy that was oddly easy to bite into, and not toothbreakingly hard like one might assume “hard” candy would be when frozen.

Through my teens I never had to search for another brand of peppermint ice cream. It was all about the Schwans.

…Then they switched from pink peppermint to GREEN mint, with primary coloured mint chunks, and it was no longer strictly peppermint flavoured, but rather a more generic mint flavour, combining the wonderful peppermint with a hint of wintergreen, my least favourite flavour on the planet, causing the whole mess to taste a bit like toothpaste.

I was not happy.

But I also could not locate another pink peppermint ice cream.

Over time, I moved on in ice cream flavours.

Peppermint fell by the wayside in order to make room for more common, generic flavours, like Blue Bunny’s Classic chocolate and Ben and Jerry’s Karamel core and Häagen-Dazs strawberry. There was a brief stint with Tillamook orange cream, but that didn’t last long.

Then suddenly last week, after sort of boycotting ice cream due to tooth sensitivity, I began craving peppermint ice cream. Still unable to really enjoy ice cream to its fullest, I decided to try and make a cupcake version of the delicious ice cream flavour.

Vanilla mint cupcakes with peppermint cream icing-
(magnolia vanilla cupcake recipe + a few alterations)

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons pure peppermint extract
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk, cream, vanilla and peppermint (you can mix the liquid ingredients together if you wish). With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. This recipe will make about 2 dozen standard size cupcakes or about 48 mini cupcakes. (give or take a few, depending on your how full you fill the muffin cups and how large your muffin cups actually are.)

Peppermint cream icing-

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure peppermint extract Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the cream and peppermint. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. Chill for about 15 minutes in the refrigerator before using, and only use to ice COLD cupcakes.

Trust me. They’re delicious.

-A.

P.S. If anyone knows a brand that makes pink peppermint ice cream that is smooth and creamy and TO DIE FOR, Lemme know.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 3:23 am and is filed under November 2007, The Cupcakes!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.