After Eight Cupcakes

Hi everyone,
     I wanted to try and make some cupcakes that I hadn't made before that I thought would be to everyones taste and a real chocolatey treat and I came across a recipe for After Eight cupcakes on a brilliant blog site called anniesnoms.com. She has an amazing collection of cake recipes in order from A-Z... its fair to say I was salivating at the recipes before I even got to C!! First one on the list is After Eight Cupcakes and I thought oooo they sound good (and my work collegues are chocoholics so I knew they would go down well!) so I thought yep Im going to make them ones...and I did! Usually I am not a great fan of chocolate sponge with a chocolate topping myself... but these were definately an exception! I thought I would share the lovely recipe with you all so you could make them for yourselves and see how good they are. The recipe is so easy to follow and the decoration is simple. From prep time to decoration, these cakes took me about an hour and a half to do, including cooling time so not that long!
 Delicious and quick... What more could you want!


After Eight Cupcakes recipe
Makes 12

Recipe from Recipes From a Normal Mum

Ingredients for the cupcakes:

> 100g plain flour
> 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
> 1tsp cream of tartar
> 20g cocoa powder
> 100g dark brown sugar
> 120g butter/marg
> 2 eggs
> 1tsp vanilla extract
> 25g natural yoghurt

Ingredients for the ganache:

> 1tsp peppermint extract
> 100g dark chocolate (original recipe called for white chocolate, I wanted to add to the decadence so used dark)
> 50ml double cream
> 12 After Eight Mints, broken up into rough pieces to garnish

Method:

> Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C and line a cupcake tray with 12 liners.
> Sift the flour, bicarb, cream of tartar and cocoa into a medium sized bowl and stir until mixed.

> Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer.
> Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

> Add in the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until well incorporated.
> Add in the flour mix and natural yoghurt.

> Mix until well combined, about 1 minute on med-high speed.

> Divide between the cupcake liners, about 2/3 full.
> Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
> Transfer to a wire rack as soon as possible to cool.
> Once cooled completely, start on the ganache.
> Place the cream into a small saucepan and over a low heat, bring to a simmer.
> Whilst the cream is heating, break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl.
> When the cream has come to a simmer, take off the heat and pour over the chocolate. Stir until all the chocolate has melted and then add in the peppermint extract and mix until combined.

> Spoon the ganache onto the top of the cupcakes and smooth with the back of the spoon. About a teaspoon per cupcake.
> Place the broken After Eights on top of the ganache to finish the cupcakes off.
> Will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

And this is the finishing product...

Over to you cakebakers :-)
xoxo