Starbucks Christmas Peppermint Mocha Latte Mini Cake

Photo of completed Starbucks Christmas Peppermint Mocha Latte Mini Cake

If you're a fan of Starbucks coffee, especially their Christmas drinks menu, you have to try this delicious, moist and festive looking cake that is baked with Starbucks Christmas Peppermint Mocha Latte. They are simply easy to make, and of course, you can use any instant coffee latte mix of your choice if you prefer to do so. This latte coffee has a light hint of peppermint and the cake top is covered with tempered Belgian dark chocolate. When you can enjoy a Starbucks latte in a cup, why not also bake a delicious mini cake out of it this Christmas?

Ingredients:

  • 1 Sachet Starbucks Christmas Peppermint Mocha Latte Mix
  • 1 ⅓ Cups All Purpose Flour
  • ¼ Cup Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)
  • 1 Cup + ⅛ Cup Granulated White Sugar (for sweeter use 1 ½ cups)
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • ¼ Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 Cup Milk
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • ½ Cup Neutral Oil (canola oil,vegetable oil, corn oil,etc)
  • 1 ½ Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

For Topping & Chocolate Dripping:

  • 1 Cup Red Maraschino Cherries (-/+ adjustable)
  • 1 Cup Dark/Milk Chocolate Callets (melted & tempered,-/+ adjustable)
  • Candied Leaves (optional)

Instructions:

  1. First of all, preheat the oven to 340 degrees F.
  2. In a measuring cup, pour and measure 1 cup of milk.
  3. Now take 3 tablespoons of the milk into a small bowl or cup and heat them up in the microwave until warm.
  4. Gently pour in the sachet of Starbucks Christmas Peppermint Mocha Latte Mix. Stir until completely dissolved. Set aside.
  5. Sift all purpose flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt together into a large bowl. Set aside.
  6. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until light at medium to medium-high speed. After about 2 minutes or 3 minutes, add in the Starbucks Christmas Peppermint Mocha Latte mixture and the remaining milk. Mix for 1 minute.
  7. Add vegetable oil or your choice of neutral oil to the stand mixer bowl. Continue to mix for 2 minutes.
  8. Stop the mixer and add the flour mixer in three batches and mix on low.
  9. After you add in all the flour mixture, increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 2 minutes, or until everything is well combined.
  10. Get your choice of big cupcake liners ( this will be removed after the cake is done. We just need it to get the shapes of mini cake size) ready on a baking sheet.
  11. Pour about ⅔ full of the batter into the cupcake liners.
  12. Bake at 340 degrees F for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. **Please keep in mind that the temperature setting/time recommendations above are based on our oven. All ovens work differently. Please adjust the time/temperature setting of your oven accordingly.
  13. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave them to cool for at least 20-30 minutes before removing the cupcake liners and randomly dripping them with tempered chocolate.
  14. Prepare to melt and temper the chocolate- Add some chocolate callets into a bowl and melt them in a double boiler. Don’t let the dark chocolate temperature exceed 120 degrees F. Let them cool to 82 degrees F & again reheat to 89 degrees F to 91 degrees F, the working temperature. Alternatively you can melt them in the microwave. If using candy melts, follow the melting instructions on the packaging.
  15. Stir the melted and tempered chocolate with a silicone spatula. You can fill the chocolate in a piping bag, measuring cup, or use a spoon to scoop the melted chocolate onto the cupcake if you prefer.
  16. Remove the cupcake liners and place the cake on a wire rack. Lined the bottom of the wire rack with wax paper or parchment paper as shown. Pour or drip some melted and tempered chocolate on each cupcake.
  17. Decorate it with some red maraschino cherries & candied leaves. Set aside to harden. A chocolate that is perfectly tempered will set within three to five minutes at room temperature.
  18. Any extra melted chocolate on the wax or parchment paper under the wire rack can be used again in your next baking project. You just need to re-temper the chocolate again. So don’t throw that away.
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Tips & Notes:

  1. Please keep in mind that the temperature setting/time recommendations above are based on our oven. All ovens work differently. Please adjust the time/temperature setting of your oven accordingly.
  2. If you prefer other coffee brands, please feel free to use them.
  3. We reduced the sugar, but if you prefer your cake to be extra sweet, use 1 ½ cups of sugar instead of the 1 ⅛ cups of sugar. Please keep in mind that the Starbucks mocha latte mix is already sweetened with sugar. Everyone's taste buds are different, so please feel free to adjust according to your own taste buds.
  4. You can mix with a handheld mixer or a stand mixer.
  5. You can use any neutral oil of your choice, such as canola, vegetable, corn, grapeseed, etc.
  6. We used whole milk, but you can use lactose free milk, skim milk, almond milk, etc.
  7. We used Dark Chocolate Callets Couverture and tempered it in a double boiler. You can use candy melts to ice the cake instead of real chocolate if you prefer. Another option from all the above is baking chocolate chips. You can use them as well.
  8. Cherry is optional if you dislike it. You can decorate them in your own way, not just with cherries and chocolate. Feel free to adjust to your preferences
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