Candy Cane Cupcakes

A number of holiday-themed desserts feature peppermint flavor, but few sweet treats yield the taste of an actual candy cane. So, here's my take on a candy cane cupcake that is great for Christmas bake sales and holiday parties that will remind you of those freakishly sugary candy canes in your grandma's holiday candy dish--in a good way:)this recipe is really easy, and doesn't include any of the 'filler' flavors that take away from the candy cane taste:)

For this recipe, you'll need:

white cake mix (or a homemade batter of cake flour, sugar, 2 or 3 eggs, buttermilk or cultured soy milk, a little pure vanilla extract, salt, butter and baking powder). sorry, i don't measure, so just mix all that around until the consistency is right :)

pure almond extract
red food coloring
peppermint extract
powdered sugar
mini candy canes

-Once you've mixed the cake batter together, take half of it out and put it in a separate bowl. Dye the batter in one of the bowls red--add as much food coloring as you want to achieve the hue of the deep red stripes in candy canes. Get out your cupcake pans and grease each section of the pan, or add cupcake liners. Now, you may find this part tedious, but it's a good idea to fill one cupcake section with red batter, and a drop or two of the 'white' cake batter. Then, use a toothpick or small fork to swirl the two colors around. For the next cupcake, add the white cake batter first, and then a spoonful of the red batter and mix it around. The patterns are really pretty and look impressive when people bite into the cupcake;)

-Place the cupcakes in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. While the cakes are baking, it's time to make the icing. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk or soy milk, and peppermint and almond extract. Use a whisk to combine the ingredients. If you want you can add a splash of lemon juice--it makes the peppermint flavor stand out more. you can also add green food coloring if you want to create a contrast between the red and white of the cupcake.

-After taking the cupcakes out of the oven, let them cool for a few minutes before icing them. After you've iced each cupcake, you can crush some mini candy canes and sprinkle them on top of the desserts. :)