Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

Thirty-six weeks. October is here and the air has changed overnight the way Alabama fall changes, decisively, the heat ending like a sentence. I went to the back porch in the morning with coffee I am now allowed to have again in very small amounts and sat in the cool air and felt the season shift.

Crystal sent a package this week. A small package, wrapped carefully, with a card. Inside was a yellow knitted hat, small, for a baby. It was not well knitted. The tension was uneven and there was a mistake in the middle that someone had tried to fix and mostly fixed. But it was made by hand by someone who does not know how to knit for someone she wants to know. I put it on the shelf in the baby room. It goes with the things from people who love her. It belongs there.

Gloria came to see the baby room. Tyler drove her. She stood in the doorway and looked at everything. The crib. The mobile. The quilts from the Clarke shower. The card from Destiny that is in the center of the dresser. The yellow hat. She was quiet for a long time and then she said: she is going to be so loved. I said yes. Gloria said: she will never have to wonder about it. I said that is the point. That has always been the entire point. She said she knew. She said she knew all along.

That morning on the back porch with my small cup of coffee, the cool air finally arriving after months of Alabama heat, I wanted to bake something that tasted exactly like that feeling — warm and a little bittersweet and just barely sweet enough. These Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes were the answer. The mocha carries the coffee I was sipping, the peppermint carries the cool air I was breathing in, and the whole thing together carries something I’m still learning to name — the feeling of a season turning, and everything already being more than enough.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup strongly brewed coffee, cooled
1/4 cup whole milk
For the Peppermint Mocha Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons strongly brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1–2 tablespoons heavy cream, as needed
Crushed peppermint candies or candy cane, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed for 2–3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
Combine wet and dry. With the mixer on low, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the brewed coffee and milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix just until no streaks of flour remain — do not overmix.
Fill and bake. Divide batter evenly among the prepared liners, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 18–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting. Beat the softened butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sifted powdered sugar and cocoa powder and mix on low until incorporated. Add the brewed coffee and peppermint extract, then increase speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes until fluffy. Add heavy cream one tablespoon at a time if the frosting needs loosening.
Frost and garnish. Pipe or spread frosting onto the fully cooled cupcakes. Finish with a sprinkle of crushed peppermint candy. Serve at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes — The Morning the Season Changed