This is my version of the viral Olympic village chocolate muffins. If you didn’t know, there has been an internet craze among bakers and food blogger to recreate the famous Olympic Village chocolate muffins. It all started after Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christansen posted a tiktok video raving about the chocolate muffins served in the Olympic Village - giving them 11/10. Christiansen went onto post various videos showing his love for the chocolate muffin - think sunset dates with the muffin and catching Christiansen in bed with quite a lot of chocolate muffin all over his face. Much hilarity! Henrik is now nicknamed ‘The Muffin Man’ and every food blogger is trying to recreate the double chocolate muffin with an moist oozy centre. The Olympic Village caterers won’t share the recipe but they have revealed it’s called the ‘Maxi Muffin Chocolat Intense’.

This is my version - developed for my cooking slot on Ireland AM. It’s definitely not healthy but I’ve (very!) slightly upped the nutrients by adding some pureed beetroot for extra moisture. These are best eaten on the day, but will keep for a few days in an airtight box and will freeze beautifully.

Makes 12-14

Ingredients:

Wet ingredients:

200g cooked beetroot
200ml sunflower oil
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
150ml sour cream 

Dry ingredients:

250g plain flour, sifted
125g granulated sugar
100g light brown sugar
50g cocoa powder, sifted
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder
100g milk chocolate chips/chopped chocolate
100g dark chocolate chips/chopped chocolate

For the ganache:

100ml double cream
100g dark chocolate chips/chopped chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Line a 12 x muffin tin with muffin cases.

2. Put the cooked beetroot and sunflower oil into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Put in a mixing bowl and add the sour cream and lightly beaten eggs and stir until smooth.

3. Weigh all the dry ingredients, except the chopped chocolate into a large mixing bowl and use a whisk to mix. Stir in most of the chocolate chips, saving a few to decorate the top. Add the wet ingredients and gently fold together until no dry patches remain.

4. Dollop the mixture into the prepared muffin cases, filling about ¾ full. Top each muffin with a few of the remaining chunks of chocolate.

5. Put the muffins in the oven and bake for 5 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C and bake for a further 12-15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean.

6. While the muffins are baking make the ganache. Put the cream in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Put the chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl. Pour the hot cream over the dark chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate mixture is smooth. Allow to cool at room temperature for about an hour.

7. Take the muffins out of the over and allow to cool. Put the ganache in a piping bag with a medium, round-headed nozzle. Make a small cut in the top of each muffin with a knife and squeeze the ganache into the muffin finishing with a bit on top of each muffin. If you don’t have a piping bag you can cut a bit out of the top of each muffin and dollop the ganache in.

Ta da! You have made your very own ‘Olympic Village’ muffins. The Muffin Man would be proud.