After Eight Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

This is the final recipe from my New Year's Day Afternoon Tea. As you can see I was very busy baking and didn't take as many photos as I would have liked! When I was planning the menu, I decided early on that I definitely had to have cupcakes. I definitely wanted something chocolatey even though there was quite a lot of chocolate on the menu. I knew that chocolate and mint was a faovurite combination for some of my guests so I decided to go with that. I baked an after eight mint inside the cupcake to give it an extra minty flavour. It was topped with a mint buttercream and half an after eight mint. They looked really pretty on the table and tasted delicious. The mint was very refreshing and really complemented the chocolate well. 

 place an after eight mint in the middle of the batter before baking 

 after baking - you can see that the chocolate has melted into the cake. The minty centre is a lovely surprise when you bite into the cupcake

 a close up of the cupcakes

For the cupcakes

250g plain four
45g cocoa powder
60g dark chocolate pieces
225g butter
1 cup water
300g sugar
2 eggs
1.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.5 tablespoons peppermint extract 

After eight mints

For the mint buttercream icing

250g butter

500g icing sugar, sifted

1-2 teaspoons peppermint extract (adjust to taste) 

1 - 2 tablespoon milk

green food colouring 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Place the butter, cocoa powder, chocolate and water to cook over a medium heat. (This is what will be referred to as the chocolate mixture in the rest of the recipe)
• In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda and sugar together.
• Carefully add half the melted chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk. 
• Pour in the remaining chocolate mixture and continue to whisk.
• Add the eggs one at a time and continue whisking. 
• Then add the sour cream, vanilla extract and peppermint extract.
• Place a scoop of batter in each cupcake case.
• Press an after eight mint into the centre. 
• Bake for approximately 15-18 minutes or until cake is cooked and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely before frosting.
• Make the icing by beating the butter and sugar until smooth.
• Add in the peppermint extract and green food colouring. 
• Add in the milk if required to achieve the right consistency.
• Pipe the buttercream on top of the cupcake and decorate with half an after eight mint cut into triangles.