Mint Berry Crunch cupcakes!!

Original Post: January 13th, 2014

I find inspiration for baked goods in the oddest places. During last seasons South Park, one episode in particular caught my interest. All of the kids were different superheroes. There was one super hero whose super power was to shoot cereal out at villains.  Although I found this super power useless it did sound quite delicious. His name was Mint Berry Crunch. As soon as I saw him, I knew what I wanted to do. I was going to make some delicious cupcakes out of this strange super hero’s power. This is the recipe I came up with, and I might say it is quite delicious!! MINT-BERRY CRUNCH!!

Makes 22- 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 cup of butter

1 cup of granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups of crunch cereal (ground)

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp of salt

3 large eggs

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1 cup of buttermilk

Frosting:

8 large eggs whites

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 tsp of cream of tartar

3 cups (6 sticks) of butter, room temperature

1/2 tsp of mint extract

1 tbsp of peppermint schnapps

Berry crunch cereal for decoration

Green food coloring (optional)

Directions

Separate crunch and berries from approximately 5 cups of crunch cereal with the berries. Set berry cereal aside. Grind up crunch cereal into corn meal consistency. 

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a small bowl mix together flour, cereal, baking powder and salt, set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar for about 5 minutes. Add eggs to creamed mixture one at time. Add vanilla. Next add flour mixture and buttermilk to mixture, alternating, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Place mixture into lined baking cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven. Allow to COMPLETELY cool.

For frosting: Place sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and whisk until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Transfer bowl to mixer stand. Add cream of tartar. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes. Add the butter, one tbsp at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition.  Add mint extract and food coloring, beat just until combined. Using piping bag with tip of your choice, frost cupcakes. Once all cupcakes are frosted add crunch berries.

Devour and Enjoy!!