Chocolate Mint Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Um. I appear to have lost a week. Sorry about that. See, I had finals week. And I had a last minute meeting with the very pregnant teacher I'll be subbing for in January (unless baby comes sooner and I have to sub before Christmas break). And I met with my hairdresser and I'm not blond anymore. And there's some other stuff going on.

So, for the last day of class, my Effective Instruction class decided to mutiny and have a party instead. I brought cupcakes. I can pretty much be counted on to bring cupcakes.

When I was growing up, my dad always had the same birthday cake. It was a chocolate cake. And my mom would get one of those great big peppermint sticks and beat the living daylights out of it. She then would mix the crushed peppermint into the fudgey chocolate frosting in the middle layer and then frost the whole cake with just the chocolate frosting. I was thinking about that cake and decided to see if it would translate into cupcakes. Of course, then I got sidetracked (probably obsessing about my 8 page research paper analyzing my own adolescence for my psych class) and added mint extract. Shoot.

Being that I happen to love marshmallow frosting, I figured I'd try that on top and I already had the smashed up peppermints so I sprinkled them on too. All the while hollering Christmas carols at the top of my lungs.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting
an original Shazamer recipe.

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp mint extract
2 large eggs
1 cup milk

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the mint extract and then eggs one at a time, making sure each is incorporated.
Alternate adding the flour and the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Beat for 30 seconds.
Fill 18 paper lined muffin cups and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F. for 11 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool completely.

Marshmallow Frosting:
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
6 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
pinch of salt

Cream together all ingredients.

To assemble:
8 crushed peppermints
Frosting
Cupcakes

Spread each cupcake with frosting and sprinkle with crushed peppermints.