Mint Chocolate Candy Cane Cake

This recipe is slightly overdue so with the holidays over and not a lot else to blog about, I'm finally getting around to posting the dessert I made for Christmas at my parent's house.  I absolutely love mint and chocolate combinations around the holidays and with my mom already making a pumpkin pie, I needed something that would satisfy my sweet tooth.  I settled on this Mint Chocolate Candy Cane Cake and turned it up a notch by instead of making it in a loaf pan, I used two 9" round pans and made it a double layer cake.

 

My inspiration

Source: eatliverun.com via Jenny on Pinterest

 

Ingredients

 

Two 9" round cakes

 

Double layer cake with chocolate ganache icing and peppermint bark pieces

 

Mint Chocolate Candy Cane Cake

 

Ingredients

Cake:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

Ganache:
8 oz dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup cream
3 candy canes, crushed (I used Trader Joe's peppermint bark pieces instead)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Sift in the cocoa powder and mix until all is combined.
3. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and peppermint extract, beating until combined. Slowly stream in the buttermilk alternately with adding the dry ingredients.
Continue beating until smooth then pour batter in prepared loaf pan, smoothing top with a spatula.
4. Bake cake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then invert on a cake stand or large plate while you prepare the ganache.
5. To make the ganache, bring the cream to a simmer on the stove. Pour cream over chocolate chips and mix until all chips melt and mixture is smooth and combined. Pour ganache over cake and scatter crushed candy cane on top. Ganache will harden slightly as it cools.


from Eat Live Run