Chocolate and Mint Ice Cream Cupcakes

In addition to the Chocolate and Mint Giant Cupcake that I baked for the Macmillan Information Centre, I also made these chocolate and mint ice cream cupcakes. I used the same chocolate cake mixture and mint buttercream icing but I added chocolate chips to the buttercream icing to make it a mint chocolate chip icing! I also made some chocolate ganache to go on top and decorated it with sprinkles and a cherry on top. 

I'm entering this to Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is 'Who will you bake for?' in conjunction with World Baking Day on May 18th. I baked these for my local Macmillan Information Centre and I hope they were impressed with them. 

I'm also sending it to the Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is favourites. Chocolate and mint is one of my favourite flavour combinations and I also love ice cream and ice cream cupcakes. 

This would also fit in nicely with this month's Calendar Cakes challenge hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes as the theme is Bank Holiday Bakes and we are asked to share what we make to relax, share with friends or take on picnics. 

 I used some foil to support the ice cream cones whilst baking. Try not to overfill the cones as I did here - 2/3 full is more than enough 

 I used an ice cream scoop to place a scoop of mint chocolate chip icing on top 

 Drizzled some ganache on top 

 added some sprinkles 

 and a cherry on top! You can also pipe a 'star' of whipped cream before adding the cherry for added decadence. 

 I used the ganache as a 'glue' to stick the cones to a cake board. They were still a little wobbly and have to be transported with great care. 

For the chocolate cake, follow the link for Nigella's Old fashioned chocolate cake - I used about 1/2 a cake recipe to make 9 ice cream cones - as mentioned in my previous post, I made a double recipe and used it to make 1 giant cupcake and 9 ice cream cones.

For the buttercream frosting - feel free to halve the quantities, I made a large batch as I needed it for my giant cupcake and these ice cream cupcakes

300g butter
600g icing sugar
1 tablespoon peppermint extract + 1 teaspoon (or adjust to taste)
a few drops of milk
green food colouring

100g chocolate chips 

For the chocolate ganache

100mls double cream

75g dark chocolate, chopped 

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Prepare the cake batter as instructed.
• Place a ring of foil as shown to support the ice cream cones in a cupcake tin. 
• Carefully fill each ice cream cone until about 2/3 full - do not overfill as the cake will spill over. 
• Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool completely before decorating. 
• Make the icing by beating the butter and icing sugar until smooth. Add in the peppermint extract and green food colouring. You may need to add a few drops of milk depending on the consistency required.
• Finally stir in the chocolate chips by hand. 
• To make the chocolate ganache, heat the cream in a small saucepan until just boiling. 
• Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted.
• Keep stirring until smooth. 
• Decorate as shown above 

Chocolate and Mint Giant Cupcake

I was asked if I could bake something for my local Macmillan Information Centre's official opening. Macmillan is a great charity in support of a worthy cause. Their colours are green so I decided to make a giant green cupcake consisting of a chocolate cake, mint buttercream icing and a green candy melt shell. I decorated it with coloured stars and a giant white chocolate star on top. I also bought a green cake board to go with it. The cake is my favourite Nigella's old fashioned chocolate cake. 

I'm sending it to Love Cake hosted by JibberJabberUK. The theme this month is flowers and as this has rose piping on top, I hope it qualifies.

 green candy melts for the shell. See my previous post for more detailed instructions on creating a candy melt shell

 cakes ready to go in the oven

 candy melt shell

 I split the cake and filled it with mint buttercream icing - remember to trim the cake before placing into the shell otherwise it won't fit!

 Then placed the other half of the cake on top

 I smoothed more buttercream icing on top 

 and placed the top layer of the cake on top of that

  I piped roses on the giant cupcake and decorated it with star sprinkles

For the chocolate cake, follow the link for Nigella's Old fashioned chocolate cake - I made a double recipe as I also used for something else but my guess is you will need approximately 1.5 recipes to make this giant cupcake

For the buttercream frosting - feel free to halve the quantities, I made a large batch as I needed it for another project soon to be revealed

300g butter

600g icing sugar

1 tablespoon peppermint extract + 1 teaspoon (or adjust to taste) 

a few drops of milk

green food colouring

No Bake Chocolate Peppermint Slice

Today is St Patrick's Day which commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is customary to wear green on St Patrick's day and I'm sure the blogosphere will be awash with green desserts, Baileys and/or Guinness treats. I baked 2 chocolate Guinness cakes but as I've shared the recipe a few times on this blog, I thought I'd make something a little different. I decided on a no bake recipe as I was short on time and pretty much made this up as I went along. I'm really pleased with the final results as it looks good - the perfect green in my eyes and it tastes amazing. It's not the healthiest treat to eat and it's also very difficult to cut a small slice but it's absolutely delicious. 

I made an oreo biscuit base followed by a mint cream cheese filling with chopped up mint aeros covered in a layer of chocolate and finished with little Aero bubbles. If you like chocolate and mint then you will love this dessert. It has a crunchy biscuit base with a creamy mint filling and a mint chocolate topping. 

I'm sending this to Treat Petite hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer and co hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Ireland.

 oreo cookie base 

 mint cream cheese filling with chopped mint aero 

 chocolate topping and aero bubbles 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

For the base
3 packs oreo cookies
150g butter

For the filling
400g cream cheese
100g butter
200g icing sugar
5 teaspoons mint extract
green food colouring
2 bars mint Aero - chopped

For the topping
270g dark chocolate
100g butter
4 teaspoons mint extract
1 pack of mint Aero bubble

• Grease a square baking tray -mine is 21cm x 27cm.
• Place the oreo cookies in a food processor and blitz until it resembles fine crumbs. Alternatively, place in a ziplock back and bash with a rolling pin.
• Melt 150g butter and stir into the cookie crumbs.
• Press into the base of your tin and allow to set in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
• Make the filling by placing the cream cheese in an electric mixer and beating on a medium speed until smooth.
• Add in butter and icing sugar and continue beating.
• Finally add in mint extract and green food colouring.
• Spread the filling over the chilled cookie base and press the chopped mint aeros on top.
• Place in the fridge to set for another 10 - 15 minutes.
• In the meantime, melt the chocolate and butter and mint extract in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
• Allow to cool for a while before spreading it on top of the mixture. Tip the tray from side to side until you get an even covering of the chocolate.
• Place the mint aero bubbles on top - green side up at random intervals.
• Place in the fridge to set completely.
• Use a warm knife to slice. 

Chocolate and Mint Tofu Mousse

It's been a weekend of birthday celebrations. The first was a small dinner party and I offered to make dessert. One of the guests is gluten intolerant so I thought about making Nigella's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake or her Lemon Polenta Cake. Unfortunately, I didn't have any ground almonds at home so I rushed out in the rain and would you believe that they were all sold out? I went to 3 supermarkets in the end, 1 large tesco extra and 2 smaller express stores but no luck. On to plan B then. Time was ticking and I suddenly remembered my chocolate tofu mousse which is gluten free and dairy free. I decided to jazz it up for the party by serving it in wine glasses and making it minty as chocolate and mint is one of the birthday girl's favourite combinations.

These were so quick and easy to put together and tasted really good. My gluten intolerant friend was very impressed and no one could guess that there was tofu in it. The mint flavour was definitely there and you can just about taste the bananas. The decoration was simple yet effective. 

I'm sending this to Dead Easy Desserts hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake. Total assembly and washing up time was less than 30 minutes. 

I'm also sending this to Calendar Cakes hosted by Laura from Laura Loves Cakes and Rachel from Dolly Bakes. The theme this month is puddings and I'd definitely class this as a chocolate pudding.

And to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior where the idea is to make everything from scratch.

 bananas, honey, cocoa powder, mint extract, vanilla paste, soft tofu 

 I bought this chocolate grater from Italy and wanted to try it out. It worked perfectly! 

 I decided to present them in wine and shot glasses as it looks more elegant 

 decorate with fresh berries and grated chocolate 

Makes 6 portions as shown 

2 boxes soft tofu

2 bananas

9 tablespoons honey (or to taste) 

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons mint extract

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 

To decorate
Fresh berries - I used raspberries and blueberries
Grated chocolate

• Blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
• Spoon into glasses or ramekins and chill for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.
• Just before serving, decorate with fresh berries and grated chocolate. 

Grasshopper Pie and a review

Have you ever wondered what's in a grasshopper pie? I first saw them in America and was intrigued by them. Its essentially a mint and chocolate no bake pie which is popular in America. If you do a google search, the 2 main recipes that appear are from Nigella and the Hummingbird Bakery. I used the recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days as I was looking through my cookbooks for inspiration for this month's AlphaBakes which is the letter G. 

This was the perfect end to a meal with the family. It was easy to put together as it required no baking but hours of chilling time. It's a very rich dessert with marshmallows, milk and lots of fresh cream so only a small slice is required. 

As mentioned, I'm entering this to AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month with my co-host Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is G for Grasshopper Pie.  

I'm also entering this to Tea Time Treats hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Ice creams, Jellies and Chilled Desserts. 

I was looking for my pie tin to make this dessert but couldn't find it anywhere so I decided to use this really cute I heart cake mould that I was sent by findmeagift to review. This silicone mould allows you to cut 6 large heart shape slices. It's oven safe to 220C and freezer safe to -40C. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I could make this pie in the mould as I was worried that it would not retain its heart shape but it worked! I was really pleased that the dessert set firmly in the fridge and I was able to get a decent heart shaped slice from it. It is a really large slice and I can imagine that it would look really good as a baked slice of cake which will be my next project.

My verdict - A solid silicone mould that does what it says on the tin. My pie came out of the mould easily and it was easy to wash. I've not tried baking with it yet so I can't comment if the cake sticks to the pan or not. There is a helpful diagram on the back of the mould with a picture guide to help you get the perfect heart shaped slice from your bake.  A perfect treat for yourself or a gift for a friend.

 double cream, oreo cookies, butter, milk, marshmallows and peppermint extract 

 crush the oreos and add melted butter to form a crust 

 chill the crust for at least 30 minutes until firm. 

 make the filling by melting marshmallow and milk  

 then stir in some cream, peppermiint extract and green food colouring  

 top with freshly whipped cream and chocolate shavings 

 it's a heart! 

 side view 

Recipe is from Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days which I won't reproduce here but if you do a google search you'll find it. The only changes I would make is to reduce the amount of butter for the crust or add more biscuits and to add more peppermint extract for a stronger mint flavour.

Disclaimer: I was sent the I heart cake mould from findmeagift free of charge for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.