mint chocolate cake

This mint chocolate cookie cake will remind you of a thin mint cookie, only it's not thin... it's mega thick! The show stopping cake, complete with peppermint cream and glossy chocolate ganache, comes from Rebecca Firth's cookbook The Cake Book.

Mint Chocolate Cake

(200 grams) granulated sugar

(8 Tbsp; 113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into 8 pieces

(56 grams) extra-virgin olive oil

eggs,

Tablespoon (13 grams) pure vanilla extract

(135 grams) all-purpose flour

(43 grams) unsweetened dutch-process or natural cocoa powder, sifted

(5 grams) baking powder

(5 grams) baking soda

(6 grams) salt salt

(120 milliliters) hot water

(340 grams) dark chocolate, finely chopped* (see note)

(300 milliliters) heavy cream or heavy whipping cream

salt

vanilla

(8 Tbsp; 113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

(113 grams) vegetable shortening, room temperature*

Tablespoons (4 grams) fresh mint, finely chopped (plus more for garnish if desired)

sugar

(8 grams) peppermint extract

Tablespoons (45 milliliters) whole milk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×2-inch round cake pan, line with a parchment paper round, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cake seamlessly release from the pan. (If it&#8217;s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video &amp; post.)

For the cake: 

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 silicone 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.

Make the ganache as the cake cools

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.)

For the peppermint cream frosting

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&#8217; sugar, peppermint extract, and milk and continue beating until whipped, smooth and creamy.

Assemble: 

Spread peppermint cream in a thick layer all over the top of the cooled cake. There&#8217;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.

Fairly easy, and very tasty...but I let the ganache cool a bit too much, gently reheated over boiling water...and it separated.  Really ugly, yet still tasted good.

I used this chocolate cake recipe as the base layer for an ice cream cake and it was fabulous. Based on the reviews, I reduced the salt in the cake down to half a teaspoon, and also reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup (150 g) based on my personal preference. The cake was perfectly sweetened in my opinion, and also moist and dense but not frozen hard as a rock after sitting at room temp for about 10 minutes. Perfection!

I have now made this twice. It is really a star! I bake a lot and use so many of your recipes, Sally.  I am making this again today with orange instead of mint

Made this for the first time, and it is now one of my favorite recipes! It's been on my list for a while, and was worth waiting for. A moist, dark chocolate cake, mint frosting, topped with chocolate ganache!  After reading your notes and comments, I decided to cut the amount of mint frosting and chocolate ganache in half. I'm not a big frosting person, and when you said the recipe makes a lot of ganache, I saw myself eating the extra with a spoon, and decided against that.  My finished cake was not as tall, but there was enough of both to satisfy. Looking forward to enjoying this one again!

This cake was absolutely DELICIOUS! The mint frosting was so creamy and had the perfect mint flavor. I think I may have over baked the cake just a bit, as the edge was a little dry. And I have to try different chocolates for the ganache - I used dark, but think semi sweet may be more to my liking. Also, make sure you time your ganache cooling so you catch it at the right pourable moment. Re-melting it changes the consistency a bit. I made this for my sister’s birthday cake and we all love it. It fills your mouth with that chocolate/mint flavor! Sally’s recipes can always be counted on!!

I don't really like mint desserts, but my son asked for a mint chocolate cake and this cake was amazing! I only made tiny adjustments, I used coconut oil instead of the shortening because I never seem to have it or need it. I thought for sure my change would make a mess of things, but it was wonderful! Oh, and I used chopped Andes mints instead of the fresh mint since it was for a teenager. He loved it! I'm super excited to try raspberry. Thank you so much!

My family and I did not care for this cake at all. The shortening in the icing, while it achieved the desired texture, you could still taste the shortening flavor in the icing and it was off-putting. It even made me a bit queasy. The cake was very dense and dry for the amount of butter and oil in it - it needed something to make it a bit less dense and it was not sweet at all despite a cup of sugar. The only good part of the cake was the ganache. Overall extremely disappointing and another lesson of I should listen to my gut because it’s usually right. I will not be making any more of Rebecca Firth’s recipes.

Excellent, it was a big hit at our family gathering! The cake part was spot on and moist. Everyone thought it tasted just like a thin mint. For other readers, the store ran out of peppermint extract so I used 1/8 tsp of food-grade peppermint essential oil I had on hand, and skipped the fresh mint. I also had about a cup of peppermint cream and ganache left over at the end. I would recommend scaling back on these components. I did not notice a shortening taste at all, and would expect that you needed to use it to keep the buttercream stable when you poured the lukewarm ganache over top.

A keeper! I’ve made this twice now. I adjusted the peppermint cream however for a bolder flavor. I used a full bunch of mint (spearmint) doubled the peppermint extract and added about 3tbs white vinegar. It was so fluffy and fragrant and balanced. Thank you for the recipe.

I made this from Rebecca's cake book! It is a great cake and easy recipe. However, the chopped mint isn't in the instructions.

OIL CAKE. I’m sure every French Boulangerie will differ with this putrid approach to baking. If you can’t bake a moist cake without oiling it- don’t brag about your baking skills!

I love this frosting so much!!! you are a master mind when it comes to baking, thank you so much!

My daughter can't tolerate dairy (except for butter) so I'm always looking for cake recipes without buttermilk/sour cream/etc. 

This cake was delicious; however I did cut the salt in half and used hot coffee instead of water. Everyone who ate this cake ranted and raved, even the ones who don't like mint and the one who didn't get the same toppings (my daughter had coconut-based alternatives that were still tasty).

I'll make this again!

I've made this cake yesterday and while it came out as shown in the picture, it was very sweet. Truly, it's so incredibly sweet that the sensation overwhelms all the other flavours - it's not balanced at all. I would strongly suggest to half the amount of frosting unless you're aiming for a mint frosting with some cake. I appreciate this is an American recipe and preferences are often cultural, so for those used to European cakes you might find the amount of frosing overwhelming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkqW2oNyKMg

This show-stopping mint chocolate cake will remind you of a thin mint cookie, only it’s not thin… it’s mega thick, complete with peppermint cream and glossy chocolate ganache.

Get the full recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/mint-chocolate-cake/

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The most viewed mint chocolate cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine