Thursday, March 31, 2011

Mint Chocolate Chips Cakes with Fresh Mint Leaves from My "Herb Garden"

Mint Chocolate Chips Cakes
Some people hate mint flavored baked goods/drinks because the minty flavor and scent reminded them of...tooth paste/mouth wash?
How many of you feel this way? I'm curious.
SC is one of them, he absolutely hates mint flavor (when it's not tooth paste/mouthwash/chewing gum/after dinner mints) and always asked me not to bake anything...minty.
I dunno...but I love it, I always order minty stuff from time to time.
I find the flavor, refreshing and cooling, especially love it for summer.

Anyway, I am the one who bakes stuff at home, so I get the final say.
Mint it was.
Mint Chocolate Chips Cakes
I used peppermint essence, but to crank it up a notch, I included quite a bit of mint leaves from my tiny and miserable "herb garden". My hands felt all minty after picking these tiny mint leaves. I love it!

Look at those tiny little green spots in the cake...cuter than green food coloring, don't you think?
Mint Chocolate Chips Cakes
Recipe
(yields 6 cupcakes)
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- a pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp peppermint essence
- a few sprigs of mint leaves (you can use less, my plant is not really "healthy" so the leaves are so tiny!)
- about 10 chocolate chips per cake

I did this the absolutely lazy way.
Preheat oven to 180C, pour all ingredients (except chocolate chips) into food processor (since I need to break down the mint leaves into tiny spots anyway), pulse until well mixed and the mint leaves are all broken into tiny spots. Pour into muffin tray lined with paper, add chocolate chips, bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Minty fresh!

If I wasn't too lazy I'd make some minted buttercream/cream cheese frosting...but of course I was too lazy.
Maybe next time la.

What other flavors I can mix with mint?

10 comments:

tigerfish said...

It does not remind me of anything but I am just not a big fan of mint! I don't mind chewing on mint leaves though to refresh !

Joanne said...

You have both an herb garden AND these cakes. Jealous!

Luatica said...

I'm the "mint tastes like toothpaste" kind of person. However I managed to tolerate some things like mint chocolates, Indian and English mint sauces.

In Europe I see a lot of green tea/mint combos.

shellie said...

i love mint/peppermint....my husband loathes it and i mean LOATHES....as a kid i used to love ordering a double scoop of mint and chip and peppermint fudge ribbon from baskins and robbins!(they dont make the peppermint fudge ribbon anymore:()

Crystal said...

Fresh fruit goes really well with mint and a bit of vanilla yogurt. But I think cupcakes with chocolate chips sounds the best!

Kay @ Chopstix2Steaknives said...

You managed to grow herbs in HK in your herb garden. That is amazing!

Mummy S said...

i am one who only likes mint in my toothpaste.. heehee... oif its mint in food, i feel weird swallowing it, feels like i am swallowing toothpaste!

Janine said...

Not me, I LOVEEEEE MINT :D I make mint brownies, mint cookies all the time! And your mini chocolate mint cakes look absolutely delicious!

Sarah said...

Mint and chocolate is such a fantastic combination. I also think lemon and mint go well together. And fruit with mint, like kumquat or pears. Mint and cream, too, like maybe mint panna cotta. Wow, Rita, you'be got me thinking about all the great things I could make! If only I had a herb garden....

Aimei said...

Oh i hardly see you bake! :) Mint with chocolate ok,, mint in cake i've not tried before... should be quite refreshing i guess. :)