Back at the end of June, I decided to finally bake something with mint chips. My boyfriend and I both really like mint and chocolate, so I figured it would be a no-brainer. First, let me just say that my biggest mistake was thinking. But more on that later.
So, I had mint chips. “What should I do with these?” Well the only things I could think up were cookies or cupcakes, but this is probably just because I’m not super inventive with recipes. Ultimately cupcakes were chosen. Why? One– because I only had cocoa powder and all the recipes for cookies called for melted chocolate (and I hate going to the store for one ingredient). And Two– I bought the most wonderful dessert carrier a while back from Tupperware. Okay so the dessert carrier is a silly reason, but I love showing off its versitility: flat smooth side for sheet cake on one side and holders for 18 cupcakes on the other. Did I mention it’s Calypso Blue? Makes me wanna dance.
Alright, so cupcakes it is. At this point, I have done almost all the thinking needed to make this experiment fail. Like I said, it was my biggest mistake. Since I had “thought” about what to make instead of just making something, I suffered one of my baking fails.
As luck would have it, the cholocate cupcake batter was AMAZING. I will forever use it. However, it called for one cup of boiling water. This is where things went south and fast. With the addition of the water, the batter was now warm,so adding most of the mint chips was a bad move. They started to melt into the batter. Also, I did not realize that chip size makes a difference. (It does.) All my regular sized chips sank causing each cupcake to have a mint layer in the bottom. On top of the that, I discovered the more chips in a cupcake, the more likely it wouldn’t bake right. Some cupcakes had only a little muffin top over the chips. Some cupcakes collasped in on themselves. Aestheticly speaking, this was almost an entire baking failure. These cupcakes needed help. ICING TO THE THE RESCUE!
Once again, I did some “thought” something sounded like a good idea. I really should give it up as a pastime. But moving on, I iced those suckers. Check the gallery for that series of quirks. I was fairly embarrassed by the whole episode of baking and icing, but it was done. The only thing left to do was to get someone to eat these creations. Yay for co-workers!
The following morning I packed up only cupcakes that I could bear the public witnessing, and off to work we went. Great feedback! Everyone noted the same thing of the chips in the bottom, but the dessert was a hit anyway. Several people went back for second helping God bless’em.
So with this first experiment I learned so much that I will note for future use. Chip size matters. I need more muffin tins. Using a ladle (for the batter) causes a mess. Plastic bags and icing don’t mix well. Mint chips do not currently come in a smaller size. I’d say this was a good learning experience.
