Cupcake for the Poor, Lazy, and Uncreative

I would personally consider it the sign of the apocalypse when I've succumbed to making cupcakes. I've always avoided cupcakes because of my perceived unwritten rules of prettiness that is consistent with cupcakes out there. I'm bad with piping and have no patience with the fancy fondant decorations. Yet here I am, with a cupcake that's the equivalent of a nerdy girl that always gets picked on by the popular clique. Don't hate on me, Cupcake Police. 

Baby bro has this pajama party thing in school today and he was required to bring a cupcake. So, I made him a batch. Teen bro also wanted some, though I think he'll most likely give it to his fake high school girlfriend. I'm a flexible sister, so here's my far-from-feminine cupcake. 

This is unabashedly express and downright full of calories, which is fine because I made them for people who don't really need to lose weight or watch the sugar content of stuff. Darn it, they eat so much carbs and still don't gain weight! Ah, growing boys~

The piping wasn't very neat, but it's still quite a satisfying treat. 

Oreo-stuffed Butter Cupcake 

with Chocolate Mint 

Mousse Frosting

For the mousse frosting, I used Nigella's Instant, No-Fret Chocolate Mousse recipe. But, I added a little twist. For the cupcake-cake, I used a local brand of butter cake mix. But, you could use any cake mix that you prefer. Have it plain or stuff it with crazy fillings like Oreos, candy bar chunks, a piece of Ferrero Rocher, etc. My personal favorites would be piping them with custard cream, or lemon curd, or spiced chocolate ganache, or fruit preserve.

Ingredients

1 box of butter cake mix (I used Maya Oven Toaster Cake mix)

/The next ingredients were as indicated in the box/

4 tbsp butter

1/2 cup water

2 eggs (though, I use only one for a softer texture)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Oreo snack packs (3 pcs in a pack)

150 g. marshmallows, coarsely chopped

4 tbsp hot water

3 tbsp butter

1 bar of semi-sweet or dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used a local chocolate brand)

1 bar of mint chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Lindt)

3 additional pieces of Andes creme de menthe thins

1 cup (250-284 ml) of whipping cream or heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions 

Making the Oreo-stuffed Butter Cupcake

1. Prepare the cake batter according to package instructions. Pour 2 teaspoons of cake batter into a muffin pan* lined with baking paper cups. Put your Oreo in and top with two more teaspoons of cake batter. *In my case, I put the baking paper cups inside large ramekins and baked them in my oven toaster.

2. If you are baking in an oven toaster like me, cover the muffin tin or large ramekins or heat resistant mini bowl with foil and bake for 10 minutes. After which, turn the tin/ramekins/heat resistant mini bowl sideways and bake for 6 more minutes until the cupcake tops are well-risen and when a tooth pick inserted in the center comes clean.

3. After 6 minutes, remove the foil and run in the toaster again for 2-3 minutes to brown the top. Repeat the process if you have a small oven toaster and you could only fit two cupcakes. Cool and set aside. 

Tip: Frosting a cake is much easier when you chill them in the fridge first. Frosting and icing are both either butter or cream-based, which make them delicate and easy-to-melt when piped, spread, or spooned onto fresh-from-the-oven cakes. Place them in the fridge for at least an hour.

Making the Choco Mint Mousse Frosting

1. In a saucepan, combine the marshmallows, chocolate, butter, and hot water and mix together with a spatula or wooden spoon until the chocolate and butter melt. 

2. Turn on the stove in low heat and stir the choco-mallow mixture until all the mallow morsels are completely melted. Remove from heat.

3. In a separate big bowl, empty a tub or carton of whipping/heavy cream and add in a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Rest the bowl on a bigger bowl or bed of ice and whip away until the cream gets thick and forms soft peaks. 

4. Fold the molten choco-mallow mixture into the whipped cream until you get the same shade of brown that you could see on the mousse frosting in the photo (which could be approximately called 'chocolate-milk' color).

5. Chill in the fridge or flash-set in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before piping, spooning, or spreading on your chilled cupcakes.

Decorate your cupcake however you want, or you could even just serve the cupcake un-frosted /gasp!/ with the a mound of mousse on the side so whoever eats it could just help himself or herself to as much frosting as they want (total laziness, but also works ;P)

As you could see on the photo, I added some chopped marshmallows and a chunk of milk chocolate shaped into a football and outlined with icing sugar frosting to cover the fact that I'm a total noob at piping frosting. If you're a total Jedi with a piping bag, then by all means, pipe away~


With the sugar content on this baby, I'd advise that you stay away from the latte and gulp down a venti of cold water. Tea is also good, especially the sort that could make you push this down your colon as soon as it gets metabolized (in which case, a whole pot of peppermint tea, or oolong, or Fujian green tea would do the trick).

When I was a kid (not too long ago), cupcakes come in sealed foil pack with funky colors and flavors that were totally synthetic. They used to mean those mass-produced factory cupcakes that were staple dessert items in my lunch box.

Now, kids, hipsters, and trendy people alike are ga-ga over 'gourmet cupcakes' (whatever that means) with pretty frosting and totally inventive flavor combinations. Over time, I am astonished by how much variety people have come with reinventing the humble cupcake, I've even seen vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free varieties.

It seems the cupcake mania will be around for a long time like coffee shops and big, thick-rimmed glasses. While I'm hoping the eye glass trend would die down, I think there are lots of things to look forward to with the development of crazy coffee blends and funky cupcake creations.