Grasshopper pie is an American dessert that is essentially mint mousse in a cookie base. A minty pie! I tend not to be a huge fan of mint and chocolate together, Aeros are so not my thing, but the idea of making mousse and piling it on top of a cupcake was too hard to resist! And it ended up giving me THE best chocolate cupcake recipe EVER! De-freaking-licious!
Makes 12 (I halved and got 6)
Mint Mousse:
14 large marshmallows (I used 140 tiny marshmallows!)
1/4 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons Crème de Menthe (I had none! So I used a tsp. of mint extract and the same of green food colouring)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Chocolate Ganache:
2 oz. good quality 70% chocolate – Lindt works great, cheaper brands sink
4 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tbsp. powdered sugar
Chocolate Cupcakes:
3 oz. 70% chocolate, chopped or 3 oz. high quality mint flavored chocolate (I just used normal dark cooking chocolate! The ASDA extra special is my go to! Its 76% cocoa solids and insanely cheap for that %!)
5 tablespoons (30 grams) cocoa (natural or Dutch)
3/4 cup hot coffee
3/4 cup (118 grams) bread flour
3/4 cup (144 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. vinegar
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract plus ½ teaspoon peppermint (omit if using mint chocolate) (I didn’t add the mint extract. Like I said, me and mint chocolate do not get on! So I omitted it)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready two muffin pans with 12 compartments each. Line with paper liners so that you have 12 for the mousse and 12 for the cupcakes.
2. Crème de Menthe Mousse
Combine marshmallows and milk in a large microwave-safe mixing bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir well. Repeat if necessary, stirring every 10 seconds until the marshmallows are melted and smooth. Let cool. (No microwave! But it worked just as well over a double boiler) Stir in the Crème de Menthe (Mint extract and food colouring in my case). Whip the cream and fold all of the whipped cream into the cooled marshmallow mixture. Divide mixture evenly among 12 paper lined cupcake tins and put the pan in the refrigerator while you proceed with the recipe. Mousse needs about 2 hours to thicken. (I found my mousse took a lot longer than 2 hours to thicken. I left it for maybe 4 and then I kinda figured it was as set as it was gonna get. So I went ahead and finished the cupcakes. Next time I might make it the day before and leave it overnight cos mine was def not the same texture as the original seemed to be)
3. Ganache Filling:
Place chocolate, cream, and confectioners’ sugar in small microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high power for 10 to 20 seconds and stir. Repeat, being careful not to over-heat the chocolate. Stir or whisk until smooth; transfer to refrigerator for 15-20 minutes or until slightly thickened. (Again, no microwave, so I heated the cream and sugar to just below boiling point, as soon as the first bubble round the edge appears take it off the heat, and poured it over the chocolate, left it for 30 seconds then stirred till melted and smooth. I actually felt that the ganache added v little to the cupcakes added as it was, just to the tops. In future I’d probably fill the cupcakes after baking with it and maybe flavour it mint too!)
4. Cupcakes:
Place chocolate and cocoa in a mixing bowl and pour the very hot coffee over. Whisk until smooth then cool in refrigerator for about 15 minutes. (I didn’t chill it, I just left it for 5 minutes then continued. I didn’t think it made too much of a difference)
In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda together, set aside.
Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar, vanilla and peppermint extract into the cooled chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the flour mixture. Divide batter between 12 baking cups and place 1 rounded spoon of ganache on top of each cupcake. Bake 17-19 minutes, until cupcakes are set and just firm to the touch. Let cool completely.
5. When ready to serve, remove mint mousse cups from refrigerator. Carefully remove wrapper from one mousse cup and invert on top of a chocolate cupcake. Using a warm butter knife (I run the knife under a little hot water), gently smooth the sides of the mousse to work out any cupcake liner ridges.
Repeat with all mousse cupcakes and cupcakes. To serve, top with shaved chocolate or chocolate syrup.
The cupcake recipe is divine! Dense but not too dense, moist and chocalately. Its a keeper! The mint mousse, not so much. It had a, well, unique texture and a weirdly toothpaste taste and mouth feel. I’ve baked these cupcakes since and followed the method the same, substituting plain flour for bread flour and it was still perfect so bread flour isn’t really a must for these. If you really like mint chocolate, then you’ll probably love these but for me, the mint aspect was slightly disappointing.
L x
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