Cupcake 78 - Mint Angel Food with chocolate cream and a bellybutton

I've been in the mood for a lighter cupcake lately. I love Angel Food cake and don't make it often enough, it goes with my love of all things plain. I do however, spend far too much time tying to find a use for all the egg yolks when I make angel food cake. I hate to waste. Oddly, the cupcakes shrank a bit, after I took them out of the oven, they were much lighter than regular cupcakes and a bit smaller, very cute. For these cupcakes I added mint chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, a creamy chocolate filling and a drizzle of glaze on top. I covered the filling hole with a Junior Mint

Cupcakes
12 eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 c confectioners sugar
1 c AP flour
1 1/2 t cream of tartar
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t mint extract
1 c sugar
1/2 c mint chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Line wells of 3 cupcake pans/36 wells with paper liners.
Separate eggs, set yolk aside for another use.

Combine confectioners sugar, flour. In bowl of standing mixer beat egg whites and extracts until thick, add cream of sugar, tarter and salt and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in flour mixture.
Fill cupcake pans 3/4 full. Gently drop in 2 t mint chocolate chips and stir with knife. Bake 10-14 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Glaze:
3 T butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 c confectioners sugar
pinch of salt
3 T water
Combine butter, salt and confectioners sugar in small bowl. Add water until you reach desired consistency.

For the chocolate cream:

12 T confectioners sugar
6 Tbsp cocoa powder
3 Tbsp milk
2 c heavy cream
pinch cream of tartar

Whisk together sugar, cocoa and milk, set aside. In bowl of standing mixer, whip cream and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Whisk in chocolate mixture, refrigerate until ready to use. (And don't eat it all!)

To assemble:

Pipe filling into cupcakes using the cone method. Be careful not to "blow out the bottom." Angel food is much more porous than other cake. Drizzle glaze, top with Junior Mint.