Peppermint Icing Recipes

PEPPERMINT FROSTING

Steps:

• Put 1 1/2 cups sugar, the corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a small heavy saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring often, until sugar has dissolved, about 4 minutes. Raise heat to high. Bring to a boil, without stirring; wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Boil until syrup registers 230 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes.
• Put egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Reduce speed to low. Carefully pour in hot syrup down side of bowl. Raise speed to medium-high. Mix until completely cool, thick, and shiny, 12 to 15 minutes. Mix in peppermint extract. Use immediately.

PEPPERMINT BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Beat butter in a bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth and creamy; gradually add confectioners' sugar and milk and beat until smooth. Add peppermint extract and food coloring and beat on high speed until fluffy.

PEPPERMINT BUTTERCREAM ICING

Steps:

• whip butter.
• blend in icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of half and half.
• add egg whites and BEAT! until fluffy.
• mix in peppermint extract.
• Be sure to taste!

PEPPERMINT MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. In another bowl, whisk flour and cornstarch; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, 30 minutes or until firm enough to handle., Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in milk, extract and, if desired, food coloring. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over cookies; sprinkle with crushed candies. Store in an airtight container.

PEPPERMINT ICING

Steps:

• Mix confectioners' sugar, shortening, water, and vanilla extract together in a bowl until smooth; add peppermint extract and red food coloring and mix until color is evenly incorporated.n

PEPPERMINT BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F Line a cookie sheet with foil and set aside.
• Beat butter for 30 seconds in a large mixing bowl.
• Add sugar, baking powder and salt, beat until well combined.
• Add eggs and peppermint extract.
• Gradually beat in as much flour as you can and stir in the remaining flour.
• Mix in the chopped candies.
• Form the biscotti: Divide dough in half and tint one portion of dough with food coloring. (I dyed my dough a dark pink with liquid food coloring...if you wish for a red dough, use red paste food coloring. )
• Divide each half of dough into three equal portions.
• Roll each portion into a 14 inch long rope on a lightly floured surface. Place a rope of each color side by side on the foil lined cookie sheet and twist ropes around each other several times.
• Flatten twists to a 2 inch width. Repeat this process with the remaining ropes of dough and place each twist about 4 inches apart on cookie sheet.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned and tops are slightly cracked. Cool completely on cookie sheet.
• Reduce oven temperature to 300°F
• Carefully peel away foil and transfer twists to a wooden chopping board. Use a serrated knife to cut each twist diagonally into ½ inch thick slices.
• Place slices onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
• Remove from oven, turn over and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until biscotti slices are dry. Allow biscotti to cool completely.
• To make peppermint icing: Combine milk, peppermint extract and sugar. If icing is too thick, add milk in tiny amounts until it is of a drizzling consistency.
• Lightly drizzle all biscotti in a zigzag fashion.
• Add red food coloring to leftover icing (if mixture thickens, add a little more milk) and lightly drizzle biscotti in the opposite direction of the white icing drizzle zigzags.
• Eat within 3 days and store in an airtight container. These freeze well (just make sure you drizzle with icing after freezing, not before).

CHOCOLATE-PEPPERMINT ICING

Steps:

• Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream to a boil over high heat; stir in peppermint extract. Strain cream into chocolate. Let stand 5 minutes; stir until smooth (mixture will appear oily at first.) Cool until mixture falls in ribbons when spoon is lifted, 2 to 6 minutes.
• To ice cake, set the cake on a serving platter. Tuck parchment or waxed paper under sides of cake (to keep platter clean). Pour icing onto center of cake. Use an offset spatula or a dinner knife to spread evenly over the top and down the sides. Let set, about 30 minutes.

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH PEPPERMINT FROSTING

Steps:

• Make the cake: Set a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease an 8-by-8-inch square or 9-inch round light-colored metal baking pan with oil.
• In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar and eggs. Use a whisk or an electric mixer to beat the mixture until foamy and slightly lighter in texture and color, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sour cream, 1/2 cup oil, vanilla and salt, and whisk until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.
• Whisk in the cocoa powder until combined. Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda, and whisk until combined and no streaks of flour remain. Stir the espresso powder into the hot water, then add the mixture to the bowl. Whisk until incorporated.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap on the counter a few times to release any large air bubbles. Bake until puffed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan set on a rack for about 45 minutes.
• While the cake bakes, clean the mixing bowl and make the frosting: Add the butter to the bowl and mix on medium-high with an electric mixer until smooth, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Turn the speed to low, and slowly add the confectioners' sugar. Mix until the sugar is moistened, then add 2 teaspoons of the cream, the vanilla extract, 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract and salt. Turn the speed up to medium-high, and whip until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes, adding a bit more cream a teaspoon at a time, if necessary, to make a smooth and light frosting. Taste the frosting, and add a few more drops of peppermint extract if desired. The frosting can be kept at room temperature while the cake finishes baking and cooling.
• Top the cooled cake with an even layer of frosting, then use the tip of a toothpick to dot the frosting with a few small dots of gel food coloring, if using. Use a spoon or offset spatula to swirl the food coloring into the frosting to create candy cane-like stripes - just a few swipes will do the trick. If you mix it in too much, the frosting will turn pink. Top the cake with sprinkles and shaved chocolate, if desired. Store leftover cake loosely covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.