After Eight Mint Ganache & Mint Choc Chip Cookie Dough

It’s the chocolate that brought together Naomi Campbell, Stephen Fry, Einstein and Liberace around the dinner table in one of its most iconic TV adverts and also, on a personal level, a compulsory part of any Christmas feast. Growing up, I spent many Christmas day evenings wading through the empty wrappers that had been returned to the dark green box, hoping that just one might still contain the wafer thin chocolate covered mint.

Including an After Eight-based dessert in the Shears Yard Christmas menu was a bit of a no brainer. Even more so than Roses and Quality Street, After Eight is the archetypal festive confectionary, bringing out the Hyacinth Bucket in all of us. Who cares if you have never or probably will never host a dinner party, After Eights played up to the aspirations of a class-obsessed Britain. Even my working class neighbour, Elsie, succumbed to one of Argos’ silver plated After Eight box holders, proudly displayed all year round on the doily covered mahogany side board.

The nostalgia of this recipe is balanced out by the inclusion of cookie dough. An American import popularised in the UK by Ben & Jerry’s, it is in sharp contrast to quintessential Britishness of the After Eight brand. However, in terms of flavour the two elements complement each other beautifully with the freshness of the mint providing a perfect foil to the sweetness of the cookie dough.