Candy Cane Cupcakes

So you’re standing around with your hands on your hips wondering how the holidays have taken you by storm and left you with all of the mess to clean up… again. Yup it happens every year. With tomorrow (January 6th) being the last of the 12 Days of Christmas, I figured you could use one more recipe to use up the last of your Christmas goods. Candy Canes.

Start off with any vanilla cupcake recipe that you like. If you even have a box of Betty C. in the cupboard and you are that tired from baking, go ahead and use that up too!

Then grab all of the candy canes off of your Christmas tree, 1 or 2 will actually be plenty. Unwrap them, crack them in half or into thirds and stick them in a sandwich bag. Now go find the meat tenderizer, a small sauce pan, or if you’re really struggling a soup can. Put the sandwich bag of candy canes in between a kitchen towel and go ahead and let out any residual holiday stress!

Please remember that although it seems like a small step, it is an important step to put the bag in between a towel. This helps keep the noise down, saves your counter top, and also keeps the candy canes from bursting through the bag and making a bigger mess than you need to deal with right now!

Next… whip up the candy cane filling (Recipe below).

Once your cupcakes are cool, go ahead and start hollowing them out like a pumpkin. Please only do this step once BOTH the cupcakes are cooled and you are ready to stuff with your filling. If you cut the cupcake open while they are still warm they will loose a lot of their moisture, the same goes for if you cut them open and leave them sitting there for long time; you will end up with a dry cupcake.

Hollow them to allow for the amount of filling you prefer. The more filling you like, the bigger you make the space.

Fill the cupcakes and then trim the tops so the excess portion of cupcake tops is off and they are flat. This does two things. Allows you to eat some of your cupcake! As well if allows for you to have a cupcake surface to apply the icing to. I find this makes my life easier!

Then ice your cupcakes with a vanilla buttercream and garnish with left over candy cane sprinkles. I do this part with the cupcakes on a cooling rack inside a cake pan for easy cleaning!

 

Cream Cheese Candy Cane Filling:

8oz Light Cream Cheese Softened

1 tsp Peppermint Extract

1 tbsp Crushed Candy Cane

1/2 Cup Confectioners Sugar

2 tbsp Milk

1) Using electric mixer beat cream cheese for 3  on medium low minutes to soften.

2) Add Peppermint and continue to beat until incorporated

3) Add both the confectioners sugar and milk and continue to beat on medium low until the mixture is smooth; be sure to scrape the sides.

4) Depending on how you measured the sugar you might find the mixture too thick or to thin. You want the mixture to be creamy and smooth, but you don’t want it to be runny. If is too runny, when a guest bites into the cupcake it is going to run down their hand! Play with it until you like the consistency… there really isn’t a right or wrong here!

5) Add the crushed candy cane last so the color from the candy cane doesn’t run and turn your filling pink. Fold the candy cane in with a flat spatula and stop once combined.

6) Use right away or refrigerate!

 

 

 

Posted in: Christmas Baking, cream cheese, Cupcake