It was my friend’s birthday and I wanted to make her a mint chocolate
cake because she loves that combo. I might be the only one who’s not a big fan,
but it wasn’t MY birthday, was it? I’ve
been wanting to make something from the Baked booked ever since I got it a few
months ago, and it was perfect because it has a recipe for Grasshopper
Pie. I deleted the alcohol (my friend is
expecting), subbed the shortening with butter, and halved the recipe for a nice
6 inch, 3 tiered cake.
Check out the verdict at the end of the post!
Mint Chocolate Layer Cake
Chocolate Cake Layers
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Ingredients
¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons of dark cocoa powder
½ cup + 2 Tablespoons hot coffee
1/3 cup sour cream
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/2 + 2 Tablespoons salted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 ½ eggs, room temp (1/2 egg = 2 Tablespoons)
½ Tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions
1. Preheat
oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Line
bottom of 3, 6-inch pans with parchment, and butter and flour the sides.
3. In
a bowl, combine cocoa, coffee, and sour cream.
Mix and set a sided.
4. In
a medium bowl, sift flour baking powder, and baking soda.
5. Beat
butter in a stand mixer with paddle attachment until fluffy. Add sugars, and
beat for 5 minutes.
6. Add
eggs and vanilla and beat until mixed.
7. Add
flour and coffee mixture alternately to butter mixture in 3 additions, beating
until just combined after each addition.
8. Put
into pans and bake for 33 minutes. Cool
in pans for 20 minutes before cooling on racks.
*I made a head of time and froze them. This makes them really moist.
 |
| Before baking. |
 |
| After baking. |
Mint Buttercream
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Ingredients
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
¼ cup flour
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons milk
¼ cup heavy/whipping cream
1 ¼ cup salted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Green gel food colouring
¼ cup finely chopped chocolate (to add to final coat of buttercream)
Directions
Day 1
1.
In a medium saucepan, mix flour, sugar, and
milk.
2.
Cook over medium heat whisking continuously
until it comes to a boil and has thickened.
3.
Pour into a bowl and place plastic wrap directly
onto the mixture. Cool in the fridge
overnight.
Day 2
4. In
a stand mixer, whip the thickened flour with a whisk attachment.
5. Add
butter one tablespoon at a time. Beat
until combine and smooth (it took me 30 minutes).
6. Add
peppermint and green food colouring.
 |
| It's not ready yet. Keep whipping until it's nice and smooth. |
Mint Chocolate Ganache
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Ingredients
3 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy/whipping cream
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
Directions
1.
Put chopped chocolate in a bowl.
2.
Bring cream to a simmer and pour over chocolate. Let sit for 2 minutes, then stir to
incorporate.
3.
Add peppermint extract.
 |
| The ganache. |
Assembly
1. Place
first layer of cake on a plate/board.
2. Spread
half the ganache on top.
3. Spread
some buttercream on top.
4. Place
second layer of cake on top, and repeat.
5. Cover
entire cake with a layer of buttercream and put in fridge for a few minutes to
firm up.
6. Mix
finely chopped chocolate to remaining buttercream and spread on entire
cake. Decorate and serve.
Verdict: Even though I’m not a fan of mint chocolate, this cake was
pretty good. I really liked the
chocolate cake – very moist, strong chocolate flavour, and not too sweet. I had mixed feelings about the frosting – it was
fluffy and not too sweet, but as with every time I make a cooked frosting, it
curdled a bit after sitting for a few minutes.
It took 30 minutes to come together, and it was nice and smooth, but
started to split. I’m not sure why this
happens to me – I know others don’t have this problem. Luckily, my friend loved
the cake and was totally surprised! The boyfriend said that it tasted just like the mint chocolate chip ice cream.
