Midnight Mint Mini Cupcakes

 

Dark and minty, the perfect after dinner mint experience.

Makes 24 mini cupcakes

Chocolate cake

Ingredients

1 ½  cups self-raising flour
½ cup cocoa powder (preferably dark dutch processed)
¾  cup caster sugar (superfine)
¾  cup milk
60g dark chocolate (2oz) melted
125g butter (4.4oz) melted, cooled
2 large eggs beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence

2 Peppermint crisp bars choppedNestle Peppermint crisp bars... a profusion of thin cylinders of mint-flavoured toffee enrobed in milk chocolate. Popular in Australia crushed or chopped as an ingredient in or on cheesecakes, pavlovas, cakes, cookies and the like. 

Method 

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 24 cup mini muffin pan with paper cases.

Combine sifted flour and cocoa with the caster sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the centre.
Add milk, butter, chocolate, eggs and vanilla to flour mixture. Using a large metal spoon, stir gently to combine.
Divide mixture into the paper cases. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean, careful not to overbake. Stand in pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Peppermint Ganache

½ cup cream 
200g (7oz) dark eating chocolate chopped
2 drops of peppermint essence or oil

Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan, remove from heat, add chocolate, stir until smooth & add essence.

Dip the top of cooled cakes, one by one into the ganache. Sprinkle with chopped Peppermint crisp bar. 

*the ganache will lose it's gloss once set, if you are not serving the cakes within an hour but want "gloss" a teaspoon of corn syrup stirred in after the chocolate has melted into the cream will preserve the gloss.