Thursday, April 4, 2013

After Eight Mint Chocolate Cupcake


A long to do list that needs to be checked off one at a time, and a much needed break is what I really need right now. Whenever, I become a little stress over something, I become over emotional. Over emotional eater that is. Not the kind that will cry my eyes out but will pig out. That's more of me.

So when my heart and tummy crave for chocolate, another friend of mine will call out to me; After Eight Chocolate Mints. The gooey minty centre coated with dark chocolate is simply irresistible. To pay tribute to my obsession towards chocolate and mint, it has to be these AFTER EIGHT MINT CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES.


I made a reverse version of my favourite tea chocolate. The cake is a sour cream base dark chocolate cupcake; made differently this time, having cream the butter and sugar till  fluffy before adding the rest of the ingredients. For that, it  makes this cake insanely moist. However, there's also another chocolate cake recipe that I swap on an off; which is equally good. Then using a melon baller, I made a cavity and piped ultra dark chocolate ganache into the middle of the cake.

As you all know, a cupcake wouldn't be a cupcake without their signature fluffy frosting. And it won't be an After Eight without mint. So for that, this cake is topped with fluffy Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream. The experiene is like eating an ice-cream on a cool windy day; or that's how I'd imagine it to be. Minty cool and light certainly compliments the dark rich cake really well.
A perfect bittersweet to end you meal with...


After Eight Mint Chocolate Cupcake
by Chic & Gorgeous Treats                                          

* Makes slightly over 2 dozen medium sized cupcakes.
* Store in airtight container in a fridge roughly up to a week if it’s not devoured within 2-3 days.

INGREDIENTS
Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
360g softened unsalted butter
1 ½ cups caster sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
¾ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
¾ cup sour cream
½ cup hot water
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Dark Chocolate Ganache
3 oz Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate
⅔ cup of heavy cream, room temperature
2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream
4 large egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
340g unsalted butter, cut to cubes
¼ teaspoon peppermint essence
Aqua food colouring, optional


DIRECTIONS
To prepare sour cream chocolate cake:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, mix together sifted all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together sifted cocoa powder with the hot water. Whisk to combine; then followed by adding the sour cream.

2. With a paddle attachment attached to a stand mixer, on medium high speed, beat butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Turn speed down to low, and add an egg at a time, beating each time until it is well combined.

3. Mix in the flour, followed by the sour cream chocolate liquid ending with flour. On medium speed, mix the chocolate cake batter until well combined. Fill about ⅔ cups full in the prepared cupcake liner. Bake between 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack before frosting.

To prepare dark chocolate ganache:

4. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Take chocolate off the heat once it has completely melted. Set aside to cool completely, before stirring in heavy cream. Chocolate mixture will start to thicken or if it’s too soft, chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Transfer chocolate ganache into a piping bag, which is optional.

To prepare the Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

5. In a double boiler, whisk together egg whites and sugar, until sugar is completely dissolved and egg whites are warm to touch. Transfer egg whites to mixing bowl and with a whisk attachment attached to a stand mixer, whisk egg whites until stiff peaks. For a coloured buttercream, tint the meringue with your desired food colouring. Next add in a couple cubes of butter at a time. (NOTE: Buttercream will appear watery and runny when butter is added. Not to worry and let it continue to whip as it will slowly transform into a lusciously silky smooth glossy buttercream. Lastly, add in the peppermint essence, vanilla extract and mix until well combined.

To assemble the After Eight Mint Chocolate Cupcakes:

6. With a melon baller, scoop out the middle part of the cupcake; careful to not break the lid of the cake. Pipe each cupcake with chocolate ganache, then covering them back with with the lid; which were set aside earlier. Transfer Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream to a piping bag and pipe swirls on each cupcake. Feel free to garnish the cupcakes with After Eight Mint Chocolates like what I did. ENJOY!



Have a great week all and I will be away for a bit! Will keep you posted on my next coming posts which will be 1 week later.

xx


19 comments:

  1. This dish lives up to your name: a Chic & Gorgeous Treat

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  2. SOOOO gorgeous and omg so delicious! I love chocolate & mint and I'm obsessed with these cupcakes!

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    1. Yeay! Another Choc & Mint fan!! Glad you enjoyed this post. Do try it out when you can and hopefully you will love them even more. ♥

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  3. I think you may be stressing me out wishing I had one of these! Poor thing, I hear you on having too much to stress over. I've been struggling to keep up with things myself. I wish I was closer I'd take one or two off your hands so you didn't have to eat them all by yourself. Hope everything else is well with you.
    -Gina-

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  4. I'm not a huge mint chocolate person, but these look fantastic. My fiance would kill for these.

    Happy Blogging!
    Happy Valley Chow

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  5. Jo, those cupcakes are so beautiful and so decadent! I actually don't like mint with chocolate so I guess mine would have to be mint free. Love your photography, I can just feast my eyes on the gorgeous cuppies!

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  6. After eight are my favorite chocolates in the whole world. I need to try out your recipe!!!

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  7. Could these be any prettier?! Your piping is perfection!

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  8. Beautiful! These chocolate cupcakes look breathtakingly beautiful!

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  9. Wow! I look at your bakings and I think PARTY! That mini milk bottle is so cute, and the cupcakes Yummmmm, the last click killed me. I so want to taste it :)

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  10. Oh these cupcakes look soo gorgeous! I love the dreamy pictures. And I want to bite into one of these cupcakes right now!

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  11. OMG-Jo, these are the most gorgeous cupcakes I have ever seen in a long time! Such perfect and beautiful swirls...love the aqua color, and the bits of those yummy little chocolate pieces on the top! Will be pinning this for sure! Big Hugs to you...hope you had a wonderful Easter!

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  12. Jo, you have absolutely outdone yourself again - this looks and sounds incredible!! I've been experimenting with various amounts of cream in chocolate cake batter, am going to give your recipe a go too :-) Hope you are well xx

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  13. Belli belli belli e buoni buoni buoni.
    Sei bravissima. Ciao da Lorena di bricioledisapori.blogspot.it

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  14. Yes, I know how you feel! Finals coming up - so I feel the same way.
    The cupcakes are GORGEOUS, so elegant. They sound so decadent too.

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  15. Looks absolutely amazing! I wish I had the skills to make them.

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  16. I made these and im not sure what went wrong but the mixture was heavy even though I used the correct amount of liquids etc..(cups to ozs/gms) the topping however whisked great but then Split...If you have had this happen can you tell me how to resolve this problem, I am wondering if I added too much color (the color was not nice when first added only 1/4 tsp, added more..could this be the problem. Thank you, They taste great by the way just dont look so good..

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    Replies
    1. Hi Alison! Thanks for dropping by. This cake is slightly more dense due to the 3/4 cup of sour cream. If you don't like it too heavy, you can reduce it down to 1/4 cup of sour cream. However, it shouldn't be packed together as it should still be really moist and crumbly. As for the Swiss Meringue Frosting, as soon you add butter, the buttercream will split. Not to worry as that is a normal reaction. Just continue to whisk it until the buttercream comes together. You will notice that it starts to thicken and firm up to piping or spreading consistency. Hope that helps! Cheers

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Hey foodies! THANK YOU for leaving me with sweet comments. I hope to inspire you like how you inspire me. Cheers~

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