Chocolate-Mint Cake

When I was brainstorming cake flavors for my sister’s birthday the first idea that crossed my mind was actually a chocolate chip cookie cake. She and my mom joke that when they went on college tours together they rated the schools based on the quality of the cookies sold in their dining hall. I wanted something a little more special though, so I decided on a chocolate mint cake. She loves mint in any fashion, with or without chocolate. So I began searching for recipes. I had a picture of one in my mind – rich chocolate cake layers flavored with peppermint extract, with some sort of white-mint icing layered in between. However, I was disappointed time and time again by the recipes I found, which seemed more focused on the chocolate than the mint. Finally I settled on this recipe, a chocolate cake with a mint filling and a thick chocolate glaze. Yes, I know it is very focused on the chocolate but it was the most promising recipe I found.

The December issue of Bon Appetit arrived the week after I baked this cake. And there, smack dab on the cover, was the cake I had been imagining – a four layer devil’s food cake with chocolate ganache AND white chocolate filling, slathered with peppermint frosting. As soon as I saw it I started singing the Alanis Morissette song “Ironic” (spare me the lecture about musical taste please… I can’t help it that I was a child of the 90s). Anyhow, now I have a serious case of cake envy. Here it is. Doesn’t it look to die for? Feel free to skip the rest of this and go for that as long as you let me know how it turns out.

Still reading? Ok. The best part of this recipe for me was the discovery of the chocolate bar I chopped up to place in the cake batter in place of the chocolate chips. I bought it on a whim at Whole Foods in an attempt to make the cake minty-er. It had just the right balance of mint, chocolate, and crunch. Maybe I was so busy eating the leftover scraps of it that I overcooked the cake. Those of you who have eaten my baked goods before know that I always err on the side of underbaking, so this was quite unusual for me. Suffice it to say 65 minutes was waaaay to long for this particular recipe. I’d start checking it after 45 minutes. The other part that just didn’t work for me was the milk chocolate layered in the middle of the cake. I realize that this amount of dark chocolate is too much for some people. In that case, choose another cake. I just didn’t like combining that tinny flavor of milk chocolate (and I used good quality bars) with the richness of the bittersweet glaze. The glaze however, was awesome, and the cake would have been fine if it hadn’t been dry due to my error. If I tried it again I would either swap out the milk chocolate for dark in the filling, make extra glaze and use that in the middle, or just skip the filling altogether.

It was pretty though… Not a total flop, I suppose! Sorry I didn’t get any photos of the inside. We took it with us to Pop’s. They were nice enough to cut and plate it for all 20-something of us. I felt too guilty to ask to take pictures and the lighting was terrible at our table.

Triple-Chocolate Cake with Chocolate-Peppermint Filling
Serves 12

Filling:
8 ounces imported milk chocolate (such as Lindt), finely chopped
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
Cake:
1 cup sifted all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Glaze:
8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

12 whole red-and-white-striped hard peppermint candies, chopped
Fresh mint leaves

For filling:
Place chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in small saucepan. Pour hot mixture over chocolate; add extract and let stand 1 minute. Whisk until mixture is smooth. Let filling stand at room temperature while cake is baking and cooling.

For cake:
Position rack in lowest third of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom with parchment paper. Butter parchment. Dust pan with flour. Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in both sugars, then vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions each. Mix in chocolate chips.
Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 5 minutes. Turn out cake onto rack. Peel off parchment. Cool completely.

Using electric mixer, beat filling until fluffy and lightened in color, about 30 seconds. Using serrated knife, cut cake horizontally in half. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on rack set over baking sheet. Spread filling over. Top with second layer, cut side down. Chill filled cake 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare glaze:
Stir chocolate, butter, and corn syrup in heavy small saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Mix in extract. Cool glaze until just lukewarm but still pourable, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
Pour 1/2 cup glaze over center of cake. Spread over top and sides of cake. Chill until glaze sets, about 15 minutes. Pour remaining glaze over center of cake, then spread quickly over top and sides. Chill until glaze sets, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill. Before continuing, let stand at room temperature until softened, about 4 hours.)
Sprinkle candies around top edge of cake. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

From Bon Appetit