Mint Slice Cups

Having two types of slice that work perfectly as little cups is lovely, but, I've had my eye on a third variation for some time now.  There can be no Three Amigos until then.

I wanted to do a Peppermint type of cup, and although the Peppermint slice that I do is delicious, its not really one that lends itself well to a cup variation.  Also, its more of a bastardised Hedgehog Slice topped with Peppermint Cream frosting, which will work in the cups in so far as holds the shape, but, isn't really what I was after.  What I wanted was something that would taste pretty close to a Mint Slice biscuit, but have the three separate and defined layers for a visual effect.  And so the recipe hunt was on.

After a little trial and error, I've come up with the recipe below.  Its a take on several Choc Mint Slice recipes that I liked bits of, but not the whole offering, and with that my latest creation was born.

Mint Slice Cups

Makes approximately 36 mini cups

Ingredients 
Base
60g Butter, melted
1/2 Cup Plain Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/3 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Coconut

Filling
150g Fondant (ready to roll, I used Orchard for this experiment)
75g Copha
2 & 1/4 Cups Icing Mixture
2 teaspoons Peppermint Essence
3 Tablespoons Milk

Topping
300g Chocolate (milk or dark, I prefer milk and used that this time but Mint Slice biscuits are darker of course!)

Place your dry base ingredients in a bowl, mixing together well by hand until thoroughly combined.

Add the melted butter, and mix in well

Once all the melted butter has been worked through the dry ingredients, begin to fill your mini silicone moulds, roughly a teaspoon at a time with the mixture

Press down with the back of a metal spoon before using your fingers to finish padding out the base.  This mixture seems rather crumbly to work with, but don't fret, it bakes together brilliantly!  Just press it in as best you can, unlike a shortbread base, it isn't terribly forgiving when working with your fingertips.  Aim for a more 'feather' touch if you're struggling, I noticed the more heavy handed I was, the more likely the mixture was to give me grief.

Bake at 180 degrees for around 10-12 minutes, or until slightly risen, and darker in colour.

While the bases are baking, you can whip up the Peppermint centre.  First, place the fondant and copha in microwave or heatproof bowls.  Melt well, the fondant on reduced power (50%) for about 40 seconds or so, stopping halfway and stirring, the copha, depending on how hard it is, will take longer.  You want the Copha pretty much melted, no large lumps at all.

Add the melted Copha and softened fondant to your mixer, along with the peppermint essence, milk and 2 cups of the Icing mixture.  

Whisk until all ingredients are completely combined, slowly adding the last 1/4 cup of Icing Mixture as you go.  The mixture should be thick and slow running when at the right consistency.

Place roughly 1/3 of the mixture into a heatproof bowl and zap at about half power in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.  This will allow the mixture to be runny enough to work with, as you will find this stiffens rather quickly the longer it sits out.  The microwave is definitely your friend with this recipe!!

Take a small teaspoonful of the warmed mixture, and spoon into your mini cases.

As you press the mixture into the case, you'll find the level actually rises, so don't overfill from the outset.  You'd rather put in not enough, than too much with this one.  Its a PITA to take back out, very easy to add a little extra.

I also used a plastic spoon to level the peppermint mixture out as the metal spoons tended to stick and try to lift.  Feather touch again as opposed to too heavy handed, a gentle smoothing motion with the spoon is all you need to work it to the edge of the cases.

Once you have all your peppermint mixture into your cases, melt your chosen chocolate.  I recommend no more than 100g at a time, as again you don't want the chocolate to harden too much, so only melt as much as you can work with in about 3-4 minutes, otherwise, as it stiffens, you'll get poorer and more uneven results with the level of your chocolate.

You do not have to wait for the Peppermint to cool before adding the melted chocolate, its simply one step after another, no waiting for cooling, except for this end part.  

Pop them in the fridge for at least an hour to set completely, then peel and serve...