Grasshopper Cupcakes (Thin Mints)

I got a request to make my "Better than Thin Mints - Grasshopper Poke Cake" again for Sunday dinner, but I was in the mood to make cupcakes!  I took the basic concept of the cake, lightened it up (a little bit), and converted it into cupcake form.

 

Grasshopper Cupcakes
Makes 18-24

Ingredients

• 1 box devil's food cake mix,
• Eggs, oil, water according to cake box instruction
• 1 box thin mints
• 1 container cool whip
• 1 packet mint chocolate frosting flavoring
• 1/8 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/3C heavy cream
• 8oz chocolate chips 
• 1/2C Andes mint pieces for topping (appx)

Instructions

Mix cake mix according to box directions.  Place a thin mint cookie at the bottom of each cupcake liner, and cover with cake batter.  Bake according to box directions. Let cool.

Combine cool whip and mint chocolate flavor packet.  Add a few drops of green food dye (optional) and mix well.  Place in refrigerator to keep cool until ready to frost.

Make ganache: in a double boiler, warm heavy cream until it begins to bubble at the edges (do not burn!).  Remove from heat, and stir in chocolate chips until thoroughly melted.  Stir in mint extract.  Allow ganache to cool slightly; it should be thin enough to spread out over the top, but thick/creamy enough to hold in place without running off the cupcake.

Dip tops of cooled cupcakes into ganache.  If tops are not high enough to dip, pour a little over top.

Cool until ganache is hardened.  Pipe frosting onto cupcakes.  Top with Andes bits.

Enjoy!

The Verdict 

Another favorite!  I think these were about as big of a hit as the poke cake!  They are minty and sweet, without being too rich; the cool whip frosting helps keep it lighter.  The worst calorie offender of the cupcake is probably the ganache, which could be optionally left off to lighten it up a little more.

Better than Thin Mints - Grasshopper Poke Cake

First off, I would like to point out that this recipe (along with many others I will be writing about) is not my own.  Full credit goes to somethingswanky.  Trust me, if I came up with something this fantastic on my own, I would let you know!

I volunteered to make a cake for my dad's birthday dinner, and the only suggestion I got from others was "something with chocolate".  This recipe seemed fairly easy (I didn't want to commit to anything too elaborate after how exhausted I've been from work lately), and I had never done a "poke cake" before.  I was right, it was pretty easy to make, and I even had some added help from my sister who came over to hang out that evening.

The cake was a hit!  Everyone thought it was very yummy.  It was pretty rich, though, so I still have leftovers in my fridge.  (Darn.)  If I wanted to go back and make a lighter version of this cake, I would probably use half the toppings (cookies and Andes bits), leave out the condensed milk, an use more cool whip (light).  As it is, the recipe was delicious!  It had just the right balance of chocolate and mint, and a balance of fudginess (is that a word?) and crunchiness from the cookie bits.  I think it's the toppings that really give it that minty flavor.  Mmmmm!  Personally, I thought it could do with less toppings and more cool whip, but I think that's just me; everyone else said it was good the way it was.

Here's a step-by-step walk-through of the recipe.  The full, original recipe can be found here: http://www.somethingswanky.com/better-than-thin-mints-grasshopper-poke-cake/

Gather your ingredients.

(Not pictured: eggs, oil, water, cool whip) The ingredients took me 3 trips to grocery stores to gather everything. Not that anything was particularly hard to find. Publix was out of Andes bits and mint flavor packets, so I had to go to Bi-Lo, and then when I was getting started I realized I was almost out of eggs. Whoops. 

Bake the cake. 

In hindsight, I probably should have used the convection bake; it would probably help reduce the peak in the middle of the cake.  I used my deepest 13x9 pan, which also happened to have a lid.  This will come in handy later.

Allow cake to cool, then poke holes. I used a straw, but you could use the handle of a spoon or something if you don't keep straws around.

Pour condensed milk over the top the of cake, letting it flow into the holes. I had to use a spatula to keep spreading it to the middle because it all wanted to puddle up around the edges of the pan. 

Crush up half of the cookies. (Don't leave the pieces too big.)  Warm your fudge a little and mix it together. Spread on top of cake. At this point I recommend sticking the cake in the fridge for a few minutes to cool off the fudge layer. 

Whip together your cool whip and mint flavor packet. I added a few drops of food coloring for a brighter green look. Spread over the top of the cake. (This is why you want your cake to be cooled off again... so spreading it on top of the warm fudge doesn't melt your cool whip.)

Crush the remaining cookies and sprinkle on top. Sprinkle Andes bits on top. Chill for at least several hours.

Enjoy! (Warning: it will probably be a little messy!)

Note: I realize that my photos aren't very good.  There is room for improvement, but the photos can only be so good coming from a phone camera.  Maybe I will invest in a nice digital camera in the future, but it's not worth it right now because I wouldn't really use it that much.