Mint Julep Cupcakes!

So yesterday, I made Mint Julep Cupcakes for a Kentucky Derby party, and while they sound delicious, sadly they were only just "okay." (although, they look yummy, right?!)

First, I used a recipe I found on Hostess with the Mostest (I definitely cannot take credit for this masterpiece!). They looked super cute with the tiny straws and mint leaves, and, the silver wrappers were a perfect touch for that "julep" look. My problem with the cupcakes were that they were just too too minty. Don't get me wrong I LOVE mint; I love the smell of it, one of my favorite ice cream flavors is mint chocolate chip, I usually only chew mint-flavored gum, and don't get me started on how amazing Thin Mints are (thank you, Girl Scouts). But, these cupcakes were just too much. I mean, the recipe calls for bourbon and, unlike a real Mint Julep drink, you couldn't even taste the 1/2 cup of bourbon in it, but boy could you taste the mint!  So, below is the original recipe, along with my notes/edits:

MINT JULEP CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
• 4 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup bourbon (or whiskey)
• 1/2 cup Creme de Menthe 

Icing

• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon mint extract
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• milk

Directions:
Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350º F, and grease or line 30 cupcake cups.
Combine salt, baking powder, and 1 3/4 cups of the flour. Beat butter, sugar, eggs, and extracts in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Add the milk and liquors to the batter, then the rest of the flour (1 cup). Mix as little as possible (seriously), just until the batter comes together. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool & then icing.

Icing

Combine the powdered sugar, salt, extracts and melted butter and beat until creamy. Gradually add milk until the texture is right for piping. When the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe or spread the icing on top. Garnish with cake sparkles or sprinkles, a straw (trimmed to size), and mint leaves.

Kristin's Notes

So, since I've noted how minty these cupcakes were, I would suggest changing a few things to the recipe if you try it out:

1. Make sure the butter for the batter is really soft (practically melted) so that it blends well!
2. Halve the the Creme de Menthe, OR, leave out the mint extract from the batter mix. The Creme de Menthe gives the batter the green color, so I wouldn't want to leave it out completely, but there is just a LOT of mint flavoring going into the batter so something needs to go (unless you LOVE mint!).
3. Maybe only use 1/2 cup of milk as well. There is so much liquid in the batter and even though I am not a "master-baker," I'm afraid that the liquid is causing too much steam/aeration to take place, which causes the cupcake to lose it's "fluffy" texture (although, cutting back on the Creme de Menthe would help this too).
4. Leave out the mint extract from the icing. The cupcakes have enough mint in the batter. (Again, unless you really LOVE mint.)

I will definitely be experimenting with these cupcakes again because not only are they great Derby cupcakes, but they would also be perfect for St. Patty's Day! (maybe some Irish Whiskey or Bailey's instead of bourbon!?)

Let me know if you try these out, and what you thought! ENJOY!

(PS - Chris' horse, Animal Kingdom, won the race so our lovely hosts are giving us a Derby Pie which is truly DELICIOUS!)