Mounds Cupcakes

Hello friends! Before Christmas break, my school had our annual faculty/staff Christmas party and I made some cupcakes for the affair. I decided to make two flavors from one batch – Mounds and York Peppermint Pattie. Today, I’ll share the Mounds recipe with you 🙂

First, I started with my liners. Since the package of a Mounds candy bar is mostly red, I knew I wanted to use a red liner. So I perused my stash of liners and found these red ones with white polka dots!

For the chocolate cake, I combined one box of Devil’s Food cake mix, one large box of chocolate pudding, one cup vegetable oil, one cup sour cream, 4 eggs, and 2 tsp vanilla extract. While that was mixing away, I took one tbsp of coffee granules and added 1/2 cup of warm water to it. After stirring those two together, I added it to the cake mix. Lastly, I added about 1 cup of shredded coconut and scooped it into 24 liners. I baked my cupcakes at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Once the cupcakes were cooled, I took my cupcake corer and took out the center of each. The filling I made did not turn out like I expected (or wanted) it to be. The filling I used was more like a buttercream, very heavy. Next time I make these again, I’ll just use a whip cream filling, that way it’s much lighter. *To make the new filling, I’d take a cup of heavy whipping cream and whip it until it starts to form peaks. Then I’d add 1 – 2 tbsp of powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 – 2 tsp coconut extract and whip until it forms stiff peaks. Then I’d fill the cupcakes with it.

Next, I made a chocolate ganache. I chopped up 9 oz of bittersweet chocolate and poured one cup of boiling heavy whipping cream over it. I let the heavy cream sit over the chocolate for a few minutes and then I stirred until it was completely mixed through. And then I dunked each cupcake into the ganache and let it cool.

For the frosting, I beat 3 – 4 sticks of softened butter until it was light and fluffy. Next, I added 2 tsp of vanilla extract and one cup of powdered sugar and beat again. Then I added 2 tsp coconut extract, another cup of powdered sugar, and a tbsp of heavy whipping cream and beat again. I kept repeating this process until the frosting had the right taste and consistency (at least to my and my husband’s taste buds lol). I then piped it onto my cupcakes – like a big “mound” of frosting 😉

After piping on the frosting, I popped the cupcakes in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Once the frosting was hardened, I then dunked each cupcake into the leftover ganache.

Lastly, while the ganache was still soft, I sprinkled the cupcakes with shredded coconut.

Tada! Don’t they look great? They tasted great too 🙂

Tomorrow, real life begins again – hubby and I head back to school. Although I’m ready to get back into a routine again, I’m not excited to go back to work. I’ve really enjoyed waking up when I want, drinking coffee every morning, going antiquing, hanging out with friends, watching “Doctor Who,” etc. Ah well, back to the grindstone!

I’ve got the supplies to make my January wreath, I just haven’t had time to create it yet. I’m really excited about it though!!! I think it’s going to be really cute! I just hope I can get it done before January is over ;-P Alright guys, I hope everyone has a great work week…and happy crafting!

~ Traci