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Liquorice Cupcakes
Growing up as the baby of the family—I am the youngest of 9—I had access to unlimited candy resources.I was the reigning queen of a private candy nirvana. Those were the days! Even when my mom wouldn’t give me my candy fix, there was always a sibling who took pity on me. That’s one of the major benefits of growing up with 5 mothers.
My sister, Celia, had a pretty odd way of eating our traditional Dutch liquorice though. She would never eat it as is. Nope, what she did was she’d take a round piece of liquorice (topdrop) and place a peppermint on top gently pressing it down into the liquorice. Basically she turned it into some sort of black & white sugar sandwich. It was awesome.
Somehow the crunchy peppermint goes great with the sticky liquorice. I tried to turn those flavors from my past into special cupcakes and must say I think I succeeded.
These liquorice cupcakes with peppermint frosting are my tribute to my big sis, who is a much better baker than I could ever hope to be!
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
1 stick butter (115 gr)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 oz soft sweet liquorice
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp water
2 eggs (room temperature)
1/2 tsp salt
Peppermint Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese
2 cups confectioners sugar
25 soft peppermint pillows (or 1 tsp peppermint extract)
Directions:
First things first, the butter. I always use salted butter.
Here’s 1/2 a cup firmly packed brown sugar, 2/3 cup all-purpose flour and 2 room temp eggs.
Cream the butter and sugar for 4 or 5 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs—one at a time— and beat until it’s creamy.
This is the liquorice I’ve used. Next time I’m going for the really salty liquorice, it’s my favorite.
Put the liquorice in a pan and add 2 tbsp water.
Melt the liquorice over low heat while stirring occasionally. When it looks too dry, add 1 or 2 tbsp water. I used a total of 4 tbsp water.
I decided not to melt it completely so the cupcakes would have little black specks in them. Melting this stuff really makes your kitchen and house smell great!
Add the melted liquorice to the sugar butter. Along with the baking powder and salt and beat until it’s a smooth brown concoction.
Silky, almost.
Add the flour and stir until just combined.
Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners and fill them 2/3 of the way with the batter. Bake them at 350F (175C) for 18 to 20 minutes.
Let them cool on the rack. They were so light and fluffy!
I tried to get my hands on peppermint extract and I couldn’t. Drove me nuts. So I opted for soft peppermint pillows that I turned into peppermint powder using my coffee mill.
Combine the (soft) cream cheese with the peppermint powder (or 1 tsp extract) and 2 cups confectioners sugar. It will look grainy at first…
But after a few minutes it will have magically transformed into a firm, creamy, and amazing frosting.
I used a Wilton M1 tip to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
Biggest kiss and all the love in the world,
Your little sis
Kay’s Recipe Card
Click here for printable size.
| Liquorice Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting | |
| Ingredients |
1/2 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 6 oz soft sweet liquorice 1 tsp baking powder 4 tbsp water 2 eggs (room temperature) 1/2 tsp salt Peppermint Frosting: 4 oz cream cheese 2 cups confectioners sugar 25 soft peppermint pillows (or 1 tsp peppermint extract) |
| Directions |
Put the licorice in a pan and add 2 tbsp water. Melt it over low heat while stirring occasionally. Add 2 more tbsp water as the licorice melts. Add it to the sugar butter, along with the salt and baking powder, and beat until creamy. Add the flour and stir until just combined. Line a muffin tine with liners and fill them 2/3 of the way with the batter. Bake at 350F (175C) for 18 to 20 minutes. Pulverize the peppermint pillows into a fine powder. Add the powder to the soft cream cheese and add the confectioners sugar. Beat until it’s a creamy frosting. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes (preferably with a Wilton 1M swirl). |
| Meal type: | cupcakes |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Copyright: | © kayotickitchen.com |
o jee ! Mijn droptoefjes zijn op ! En dat nét nou typicaldutchstuff.com2 weken uit de lucht is ivm welverdiende vakantie. Zucht……ik moet dus even wachten met het bakken van deze spannende cupcakes.
Hardstikke innovatief hoor dit recept!
Deze frosting lijkt me ook zomaar lekker op chocoladecakejes!
Of een chocoladefrosting op pepermuntcakejes, haha
Het water loopt me in de mond bij het zien van die dropjes! Het is toch niet te begrijpen dat drop de rest van de wereld niet net zo veroverd heeft als Nederland! De combi topdrop met King pepermuntje maakten wij vroeger ook. En ook nu eet ik nog heel graag Drop Mentos!
these cupcakes look beautiful and i love the flavour combination.
i’ll have to try them out for my husband who adores liquorice (he’s swedish and their liquorice is even saltier than the dutch version).
@Anna (Morsels & Musings):
Liquorice can’t be salty enough for me… I’m addicted to it :)
They look gorgeous Kay! Figured out i need to start making some of these myself..any suggestions for a cooking range or an oven?
Beautiful cupcakes!
aah dropjes lekker hoor. Ik moet die ook weer bestellen. Maar de lekkerste drop is de oldtimers drop met historie. http://www.frankpels.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Oldtimers-Sch_Hin_Zoet.jpg
@ Arrisje:
Die zoethoudertjes zijn mijn favo! Koop ze zelden want het pak gaat in één keer op. Kan daar niet mee stoppen :)
oh, they sound lovely, i need to make these! i have some sweet liquorice laying around that i don’t really like eating as is, but i bet it would be good in cupcakes. my favorite liquorice has sea salt in it:)
@Kay: Ja bij mij ook het hele pak, kan dat de volgende dag ook merken, maar goed dat ik ze niet hier in de winkel kan kopen. Ik eet ze alleen als familie komt en die voor me mee brengt, of ik bestel ze on line.
What an unusual recipe. Making cakes from sweets…! These must be so bad for you………
but who cares?
mmmmmm en die cent drop van VanCleene
nergens in belgie te vinden
ik ben opgegroeid dicht bij Zeeuwsvlaanderen en had een tante die in Sluis een snoepwinkeltje had
Wat mis ik het
What an awesome recipe and the images are making me drool!!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to share this!
Oh my goodness this looks good! Reminds me of schoolkrijt (sp?) sweets – liquorice-y and mint-y all at the same time. *swoon*
PS: Isn’t Venco just the BEST? Salty liquorice FTW.
I so wish I liked liquorice because these look divine!
Youngest of 9? I can’t imagine what that would be like. Did they all spoil you rotten?
Your recipe sounds delish.
oh god. ive died and gone to heaven.
i just discovered your blog and already feel like i should cook every single one of your recipees.
im off to the kitchen. thanks for sharing.
I think I’m going to try to make these for my fiance for Valentine’s Day :)!
I always use unsalted butter, too funny.
WOW!! These look amazing. I, too, am addicted to dutch licorice – the saltier the better. I used to combine cherry lifesavers with my dubbel zout as a kid so your story sounded so familiar!
I always love to visit ur site to see your step-by-step pictures. Cupcakes are SO beautiful. I’m tempted to try it now. :)
Lordy…can’t believe you could create a drop-cupcake! Haha! As a Canadian expat, i’m of course horrified by the idea…but i must say very ingenious if you like this sort of thing! I have to add that even though i’m 99% dutchified, i STILL don’t get drop, honest…..the WORST candy/flavour on earth!
Don’t worry, it’s not you! :)
Over the years I’ve only met 3 people who didn’t grow up here and who actually liked drop. I guess it really is an acquired taste!
Yum! Thanks for this recipe! My mother is Dutch and we love drop.
Hey Kay, wat een geweldige recepten zeg!
Ik vraag me wel telkens af hoeveel er in de cups gaan?
Ik weeg nooit, dus ik heb geen idee. Daarom vind ik met cups werken zo handig, je hebt altijd dezelfde hoeveelheid zonder afwegen.
I’ve made this icing 3 times and I can’t seem to get it firm enough to pipe. It just dribbles off… advice? More whipping, or a particular brand or different proportion? Thanks!