buttercream

Deep, dark devil’s food cupcakes with mint buttercream are the perfect treat for those who love the combination of chocolate and mint. These cupcakes, along with sweet Irish soda bread are my favorites for St. Patrick’s Day. Shaved chocolate mint candies are the perfect garnish for these tasty cupcakes.

American buttercream made with crème de menthe makes this an adults-only cupcake, but there is a non-alcoholic version to make it kid-friendly!

If you make a purchase through one of the affiliate links, I make a few pennies at no extra cost to you. Questions? Please see disclosure for info.

Devil’s Food cupcakes

I’ve made thousands of chocolate cupcakes in my lifetime, as I’m sure some of you have as well. You wait with anticipation for that dark chocolatey goodness only to find it falls short of being really chocolatey.

Does this sound familiar? That really takes the wind out of my sails.

If I’m promised a devil’s food cupcake, call me crazy, I want a super chocolatey cupcake. 

After many versions, I’ve finally landed on a solid recipe for a devil’s food cupcake that doesn’t leave me feeling like it didn’t quite hit the mark.

Chocolate mint cupcakes

When my brother and I were younger, we had a next door neighbor that would bring us a box of Andes candy to share. 

You would have thought he gave us each a $100 bill we were so excited… as we got older, sometimes we each got our OWN box. Now that was newsworthy.

Opening the box and seeing all of those perfectly lined up little rectangles of foil would make me giddy.

I had to take extra care not to rip it, so as to put the box back inside once we had removed a few… then there was the issue of counting them out to assure that the treasure was evenly divided.

I can still remember that feeling of unwrapping the first one and letting the cool combination of mint and chocolate settle on my tongue as it slowly began to soften and melt. 

Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Crème de Menthe

The inspiration for these cupcakes comes from the “something green” for St. Patrick’s Day. Rewind twenty plus years and you would have found me having a green beer to celebrate, but these days, you wouldn’t catch me within a ten mile radius of those places.

A dozen years ago, you’d have found me at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Manhattan. But, I no longer live in New York, so I figured making a grown up cupcake was a perfectly good way to have fun with this holiday.

I’ve outgrown green beer and all of that silliness, but I still like to partake in the green on St. Patty’s Day. So, I’ve added a bit of green crème de menthe to this super simple American buttercream. 

If you would rather make it without the alcohol, there is a note in the recipe for doing just that. A couple of swaps and you have basically the same frosting without the alcohol.

How to Make Chocolate Curls for Garnish

This is a really easy thing to make that looks a bit posh. Get the rectangles of chocolate mint candies and stash them in the fridge. 

Using a vegetable peeler, gently pull the peeler toward you along the longest side of the candy. The lighter you press, the thinner it will be and it will curl a bit easier. If you press harder, the curl will be thicker and not quite as curly.

You want the candy to be cool but not very cold. If it is too cold, it will be brittle and it’ll break into shards, which is also fun. 

After a few candies, you will quickly find your sweet spot and what you like best.  You’ll see what I mean when you make them. 

It is very easy to do, it just takes patience. If the candy breaks, just eat it and grab another piece. No one will be the wiser.

I really hope you love this recipe. If you make it, snap a pic and share it with me either in the Fabulous Foodie Friends Facebook group or on Instagram by tagging @pookspantry and using hashtag #pookspantry.

Here are a few more of our favorite cupcake recipes:

• Caramel Apple Cupcakes with Apple Cider Buttercream
• Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
• Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
• Ginger Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream
• Halloween Day of the Dead Chocolate Cupcakes

Please share

If you love this recipe, please give it 5 stars!

Your shares help this site to grow and I appreciate it so much. Do you know someone who would like this? I’d love it if you would share it on Facebook or pin it to your favorite recipe board.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a delicious day 🙂

Questions? Send me an email, I’m happy to help. I’d love to send you weekly tips and recipes, so you can get updates about what’s happening in the kitchen!

Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my photos or recipe without prior written permission. Thank you!

The recipe and photos have been updated from the original publish date of 03/13/13