I was asked to make cupcakes for our work Christmas party last weekend and I wanted to make something festive that most people would enjoy.  I say “most people” because I found some fabulous recipes for eggnog as well as gingerbread cupcakes but not everybody likes to rock those flavours.  So, I tweaked my favourite chocolate cupcake a bit and added a white chocolate candy cane buttercream.  For decorations I used some cute little cupcake picks I found at Winners.  I also had a lot of quinns and crushed candy cane left over from my Christmas cake balls so I sprinkled a few of those on top of the cupcakes.  The frosting definitely made these cupcakes.  I’m not a huge fan of mint frosting but the white chocolate in there along with a dash of salt really brought all these flavours together.

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:

• 1 recipe for your favourite chocolate cupcakes (for my go to recipe, click here)
• 1/4 cup crushed candy cane

For the Icing:

**This recipe yields enough icing to pipe approximately 40 cupcakes

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup all vegetable shortening
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tbsp. finely crushed candy cane
• 8 ounces white chocolate bar, melted and cooled to lukewarm (alternatively, pure white chocolate chips will also work, just look up the conversion here)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons peppermint extract (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons)

Directions:

For the Cupcakes:

• Make cupcakes as directed.  Once you have mixed the batter, gently stir in the crushed candy cane before filling your paper liners (Note: I would recommend using a cupcake recipe that yields a more dense than fluffy cupcake as the crushed candy cane may sink to the bottom of the liners)

For the Icing:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the powdered sugar, salt, shortening and butter until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the white chocolate until combined.
• Stir in the peppermint flavoring and candy cane to your taste (Note: Make sure the candy cane is finely crushed or it will get stuck in your icing tips when you go to pipe the frosting).
• Whip until the frosting reaches your desired consistency (Note: I used a few Tbsp. of 35% cream to give my frosting a “fluffier” look but this is entirely optional).

Enjoy!

Source: Icing recipe adapted from Candy Cane Buttercream Frosting from Pennies on a Platter