Mint Chocolate Cake

I love to bake. It's one of my favorite hobbies. I especially love cake baking. So for everyone important in my life, I bake them a cake for their birthday. Yesterday just happened to be my best girlfriend's birthday. I actually call her my sister from another Mister (and Missus) because she is just like the sister I never had. I love her like family and her mom and pop are my second parents.

So, back to the cake.... Erica loves mint chocolate. So when I asked her what kind of cake she'd like, I wasn't too surprised she asked for this kind of cake. I searched the web, and found a few recipes. Usually, once I find a few that are pretty similar, I take the one that sounds the best to me and go with it as long as the comments/reviews are good. The recipe I used for this cake came from Bird on a Cake. Hers looks much better than mine, but hey, I gave it a shot. See below for recipe and then head to her site to see a prettier version!!

Andes Mint Chocolate Cake

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (OR 1 c. milk mixed with 1 T. vinegar)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped Andes Mints

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of three 8 inch cake pans with wax or parchment paper and spray the sides of the pan with cooking spray. Bring some water to a boil and keep it simmering while you mix the other ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Beat with mixer until combined.

Add 1 cup of the boiling water and carefully stir until it is mixed in. Beat for 1 1/2 minutes with mixer. Shake the chopped Andes Mints in a ziploc bag with a tablespoon of flour, until they are lightly coated. Fold the mints into the batter and pour into prepared pans. Bake for 25-35 minutes (until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean).

Mint Buttercream Frosting

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• green food coloring
• 1/2 cup milk (may use less - I should have used 1/3 cup maybe, my frosting got pretty thin with a 1/2 cup)

Mix butter, sugar, vanilla, peppermint and food coloring on low speed in large mixing bowl. Gradually add milk until you reach the desired consistency. Keep covered.

Ganache (cut this in half I didn't and will be sure to next time, I had a lot leftover)

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the chocolate chips in a metal bowl. Heat cream over medium heat. Watch it closely and immediately remove from heat when it starts to boil. Pour over chocolate chips. Let stand for 1 or 2 minutes. Then slowly stir the mixture until all the chips have completely melted. Stir in the vanilla.

Enjoy! I cannot wait to dig into it tonight!

Posted with Blogsy