Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

• Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced and line your muffin tins with paper cases. This recipe makes 13 cupcakes – a bakers dozen.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well to combine.
• In a separate bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the melted butter and both sugars until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl each time and beating well after each. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.
• Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture. Stir through gently until just combined. Now add half of the buttermilk, Mix gently again. Continue like this until all the flour and buttermilk is combined… just. It is important not to overmix or be too heavy handed otherwise your cupcakes will turn out dense and tough.
• Fill the cupcake cases only to about half full. Bake in the oven for around 18-20 minutes, turning the pan around in the oven half way through to make sure they bake evenly. When a skewer inserted comes out with just a crumb or two, they are done.
• Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack

For the Cheesecake Base

• Place the biscuits in a sealed plastic bag and use a rolling pin the crush them into crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix well.

Chocolate Bark

•  Line a baking tray with baking paper. Melt the 2 chocolates together in the microwave, in 30 second increments, stirring well between each until fully melted. Pour it onto the lined baking tray and spread out quite thinly with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. Sprinkle the biscuit crumbs over the top and then glitter if using. Place in the freezer to set hard.
• For the cheesecake filling* Add half of the cream cheese, ¼ cup of icing sugar , half the cream and the vanilla to a bowl and beat on high until smooth and fluffy. You will only use around 3 tablespoons to fill the cupcakes. The remaining filling will be added to the frosting.
• Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut a small hole in the top of each in the centre and fill with a teaspoon of the cheesecake filling.

For the frosting

• Add the remaining cream cheese, cream and cheesecake filling to the butter and beat well until smooth. Add the cocoa and beat again. Now add the rest of the sifted icing sugar ½ a cup at a time and beat well to incorporate, then give it a final beat for around 2-3 minutes on high to get it nice and smooth and whipped.

• Top the cupcakes with frosting. Break the chocolate bark into shards and poke them into the top of your cupcakes.