Mint Chocolate Cake Recipes

MINT-CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract; mix using an electric mixer until smooth. Whisk in boiling water. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cake cool 10 to 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• While cake is cooling, combine milk and peppermint extract in a small bowl and set aside. Cream butter in a separate bowl using an electric mixer until smooth. Pour in confectioners' sugar and peppermint-milk mixture alternately while continuing to beat. Add green food coloring until frosting reaches desired color. Whip frosting on high until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Divide between two bowls. Stir chocolate chips into 1/2 the frosting using a spoon. Set mint-chocolate chip frosting aside.
• Frost cooled cake with pure mint frosting without chocolate chips. Place cake in the refrigerator to set.
• Meanwhile, combine chocolate squares and butter in a double boiler; stir until thoroughly melted. Remove from heat. Stir ganache vigorously to a smooth consistency.
• Remove cake from the refrigerator. Cover entire cake with ganache; return to the refrigerator and allow to completely set, about 30 minutes.
• Remove set cake from the refrigerator. Frost sides of cake with mint chocolate chip frosting.

MINT CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• For the chocolate cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
• Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
• Whisk together the buttermilk, oil, vanilla and eggs in a medium bowl. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and mix until just combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto cooling racks and cool completely.
• When the cakes are completely cool, level each cake and then cut each layer in half to make four cake rounds. Chill until ready to assemble.
• For the mint buttercream: In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the confectioners' sugar and butter until creamy.
• Beat in the peppermint extract, salt and 2 tablespoons of the milk until well combined. Gradually stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons milk until the desired spreading consistency is reached. Set aside until ready to assemble the cake.
• For the chocolate buttercream: Chop the chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and egg yolk and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
• Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. With the mixer on low speed, add the melted chocolate and the coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Do not whip! Set aside until ready to assemble the cake.
• For the mint curls: Put the melting wafers and shortening in a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave in 1-minute increments, then in 15-second increments, stirring after each heating. When the wafers are melted, add the peppermint oil and stir until incorporated.
• Flip over a large, clean baking sheet. Pour half of the melted candy onto the back of the baking sheet and spread evenly with an offset spatula. (This is important, as you want the layer to be as even and level as possible. Thin is good, but translucent is not.)
• Place the baking sheet in the fridge to set for 1 to 2 minutes or leave it on the counter for about 10 minutes. The mixture needs to be at the perfect temperature for curls to form. If it's too cold, they will just break. If it's too warm, they will just be blobs. Press your finger into the mixture; if it leaves a mark, the mixture is too soft.
• Press a very clean flathead screwdriver into the mixture at a 45-degree angle and then slide it forward slowly. Curls should form. Immediately transfer the curls to a plate and place in the refrigerator so that they hold their shape. Repeat the process with the remaining half of the melted candy. Chill all the mint curls until ready to assemble the cake.
• To assemble the cake: Place 1 layer of cake on a cake stand or cake plate. Spread one-third of the mint buttercream over the top of the cake. Top with a second layer of cake and spread another third of the mint buttercream over the top. Repeat with a third layer of cake and the remaining mint buttercream. Top with the remaining layer of cake.
• Coat the top and sides of the assembled cake with the chocolate buttercream. Smooth the surfaces of the cake as much as possible. Place the remaining chocolate buttercream into a piping bag or resealable plastic bag fitted with a large round tip, such as a 2A tip.
• Pipe dollops of frosting around the top of the cake. Sprinkle the mint curls over the top. Chill the cake until ready to serve.

CHOCOLATE-MINT SWIRL CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan, or spray with baking spray with flour. In small bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on high speed until smooth and fluffy. Beat in granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 egg, 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract and 3 drops food color until smooth; set aside.
• In large bowl, beat cake mix, 1/3 cup flour, 1 cup water, the butter and 2 eggs on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes. Pour into pan. Spoon cream cheese filling over batter.
• Bake 44 to 52 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Turn pan upside down onto cooling rack or heatproof plate; remove pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• In 1-quart saucepan, heat chocolate chips and shortening over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted; set aside. For glaze, mix powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, 1 to 2 drops food color, the corn syrup and enough of the 3 to 4 teaspoons water to make a thick glaze that can be easily drizzled. Drizzle over cake. Immediately spoon melted chocolate over glaze in 1/2-inch-wide ring. Working quickly, pull toothpick through chocolate to make swirls. Refrigerate until serving time. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

MINT CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×2 inch round cake pan, line with a parchment paper round (see #6 in Cake Baking Tips), and then lightly grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cake seamlessly release from the pan. I recommend using nonstick spray for greasing.
• In the bowl of an electric handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the sugar and butter together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. With the mixer on low, slowly stream in the oil. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is well blended. With the mixer on low, add in the eggs, one at a time, making sure that each is incorporated before adding in the next. Add the vanilla and run the mixer for 30 more seconds. Take the bowl out of the mixer.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture in three batches, mixing each until almost blended. Batter will be very thick. Finally, pour in the hot water and whisk to combine. Pour evenly into prepared cake pan. Lightly tap pan on the counter a few times to settle the cake batter and release any trapped air bubbles.
• Bake in the center of the oven for 30-36 minutes (and up to 40 minutes, if needed but begin checking at 30). The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or when the cake springs back if you lightly poke the center with your finger. Remove from the oven and cool cake in the pan set on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Remove cake from the pan and place cake directly on the cooling rack to finish cooling. Once cool, you can place the cake on your cake stand or serving plate.
• Place the chocolate, cream, and salt in a large heat-safe bowl set over a medium saucepan of simmering water. (Or use a double boiler if you have one.) Do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water. Stir frequently until chocolate has melted and ganache is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Set aside at room temperature to cool until thickened. You want it cool enough to not melt the frosting, but still a little fluid. This takes about 60-90 minutes to cool. (NOTE: This yields a lot of ganache and I used about 3/4 of it on top of the cake and then drizzled more on each slice.)
• In the bowl of an electric handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, shortening, and mint together on medium-low speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine. Add confectioners' sugar, peppermint extract, and milk and continue beating until whipped, smooth and creamy.
• Spread peppermint cream in a thick layer all over the top of the cooled cake. There's a lot of frosting, so pile it high. Try to make the edges sharp angles that follow the line of the cake. (You can see it pictured above.) I always use a small icing spatula. Place uncovered in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to help set the frosting. Pour ganache slowly on top of cake and use a small offset spatula or a knife to gently spread all over the frosting. Return cake to the refrigerator and chill uncovered for 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Feel free to garnish with mint leaves.
• Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.