Choco-mint cupcakes

Lately, I've been hung up on mint, like there's no tomorrow. (OK, besides my mint smokes. Bad, bad, bad Dijana.)

Out of the gazillion (and then some) cooking books around the house, I couldn't find one thing that appealed to me mint-wise, so I decided to experiment. 

Earlier in the day while running an errand, I took a quick turn to the supermarket and a bottle of green food coloring caught my eyes. Pretty, I thought, but then I do like green (a lot), so of course that green equals pretty. I picked up a couple of odd things and the tiny bottle with the green color too. What's better than having a minty idea and getting a bottle of green food color, eh?

Well, I still had bunch of errands to run, but I had about 2 hours to kill at home, so the choco-mint cupcakes were born. Oh so light, oh so fluffy, oh so delicious *HUGE smile*, oh so NOT green *sad, sad, sad face*.

However, the lack of 'greenery' didn't affect the taste, so it is worth sharing the recipe. I cannot stress enough, use your trusted brand of coloring, do not try new one just because it looks pretty.

For 6 cupcakes (regular size, or slightly smaller than regular) you will need:

50 grams unsalted butter (at room temperature)

50 grams of sugar

50 grams plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 large egg

1 heaped tablespoon (unsweetened) cocoa powder

1 tablespoon of milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 teaspoon mint extract

1 teaspoon green food coloring (your trusted brand, NOT the one that looks pretty in the bottle)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Mix the flour with the baking soda and baking powder and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well until amalgamated. Add the flour and then the milk while still beating.

When all is well amalgamated, divide equally between 2 bowls. Beat the cocoa powder and vanilla essence in one and the mint extract and the green food coloring in the other.

Line muffin tin with paper cases and spoon alternatively of both colors into the cases. With a toothpick, give a little swirl, but do not overdo it, it has to be green AND brown.

Bake 18-20 minutes (depending on your oven, or until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean).

Cool about hour or so before frosting, if you decide to frost them, although they're delicious even without the frosting.