Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

I had an inspiration to make chocolate peppermint cupcakes, but not just any! I wanted them to be different.

So I took a vegan recipe, de-veganized it, and added my own twist! They came out really yummy! If you want to keep them vegan, just use soy milk instead of regular milk. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same.

Chocolate Cupcakes

2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vinegar
1.5 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups cake flour (it really matters, it does)
2/3 cup cocoa powder; dutch processed is preferred
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake tins.

Combine milk and vinegar and let sit to curdle. Combine sugar, oil and vanilla and let mix. Add milk mixture and beat until foamy. In another bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add slowly to the wet mixture, beating only until combined.

Pour into cupcake liners, about 2/3 of the way. Bake 15 minutes or so. I made mini cupcakes and it really did take that long. Larger cupcakes may take 18-20 minutes, but I'd keep an eye on them. My oven is actually pretty evil.

Let cool.

Peppermint Candy Ganache

Unwrap all the candies in a bag of candy cane flavored kisses. Melt them slowly over a double boiler, or just really slowly without double boiling. Once they are melted, spoon the candy over the top of the cupcakes as a ganache. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of crushed peppermint candy.

Let the candy cool. Done! Yay!