Chocolate Mint Cake

I planned a little surprise birthday dinner for a friend recently. Luckily it went well and the birthday girl was indeed surprised and very happy! I asked the restaurant if I could bring a cake and started thinking about what to bake. I remembered that chocolate mint is her favorite so I thought of a chocolate cake with a minty filling. I had great success with my chocolate cake and Oreo cream cheese filling so I decided to adapt that into a chocolate mint cake. I used the same cake recipe but added 1 tablespoon of mint extract. The filling also had mint and green food coloring and chopped up mint aero. The cake was then topped with a chocolate ganache and mint aero balls. I forgot to take pictures at the restaurant so I only have a few photos to share. The cake was absolutely delicious! Light and minty but not overly so. My friend's dad really enjoyed the cake and I got more compliments about the cake later from her family! 

I'm sharing this with Alphabakes which I'm hosting this month. Caroline from Caroline Makes is my co host. The letter this month is M for mint. 

For the cake

350g caster sugar

220g plain flour
85g cocoa powder
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs
250mls milk
125mls vegetable oil
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
250mls boiling water, cooled for a few minutes


For the filling
400mls double cream
225g cream cheese
85g icing sugar
green food colouring

2 large bars of Mint Aero, roughly chopped

For the ganache
200mls double cream
200g dark chocolate 

To decorate

Mint Aero balls

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Grease and line 2 x 18cm round tins. 
• Place the sugar, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix briefly.
• Add in the milk, oil, eggs, peppermint extract and finally the slightly cooled boiling water.
• Mix until smooth.
• Divide the batter between the 2 cake tins and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
• To make the filling, whip the cream until stiff then set aside. 
• Beat the cream cheese with the icing sugar until smooth. Add in a little green food colouring and mix thoroughly. 
• Stir in the whipped cream and chopped mint aero chocolate. 
• Chill in the fridge if not using immediately.
• To make the ganache, heat the cream gently until it's just starting to bubble - don't let it overboil.
• Add in the chocolate in small pieces whilst stirring.
• Whisk for a few minutes until it's smooth.
• Allow to cool for 5-10minutes before using.
• To assemble the cake, place one cake upside down on the cake board. 
• Spread the cream cheese filling evenly on the cake, smoothing out the edges as you go. 
• Add the second cake on top.
• Pour the ganache from a height on to the centre of the cake and allow it to spread out until it's dripping down the edges of the cake. 
• Decorate with mint aero balls. 

Football Pinata Birthday Cake

I was asked to bake a football cake for a colleague's son birthday. Last year the birthday boy wanted a trash pack cake which was a challenge but turned out better than expected! I was a little worried that he would ask for something complicated but fortunately he wanted a football cake. His favourite team is Manchester United so I used red for the football. I made a football cake last year which was a little disastrous so I was determined to succeed this year. I also upped the stakes by making it a pinata cake by filling it with lots of M&M's so that there would be a surprise when you cut into the cake. I learnt my lesson from last year and baked the cake 2 days in advance. This allowed plenty of time for the cake to cool before decorating and I managed a whole round sphere with no collapsing cake in sight! I baked 2 hemispheres using my Lakeland hemisphere tin and sliced each in half. I cut a circle out of the top half of each hemisphere and stacked the whole cake with icing. The gap left by the cut out circle made a cavity for the M&M's to go in. I covered the whole cake with a crumb coat icing then a further layer of icing before covering it with white fondant. I couldn't find my hexagon cutter so I had to make my own by cutting out a piece of cardboard in the shape of a hexagon and used that as my guide. I can't draw and it took me ages to get something that resembles a hexagon!

The cake is chocolate mint as requested by the birthday boy and the icing is mint buttercream icing. I piped some 'grass' at the bottom of the cake board and cut out the number 8 to represent his age. The birthday boy was really pleased with the cake. He had a birthday party and the kids were impressed with the M&M's inside the cake when the cake was cut. I asked for a photo which you can see below.

 I baked 2 hemispheres and I used a cookie cutter to balance the tin

 There was some batter left over so I made 2 mini football cakes using a mini football shape mould. 

 Filling the middle with M&M's 

 Chocolate mint icing between each layer 

 My homemade hexagon cutter 

 mini footballs

 finished cake 

 The inside of the cake 

I used Nigella's old fashioned chocolate cake and doubled her recipe. I added in 1 tablespoon of peppermint extract for the mint flavour.
The peppermint icing is made of 250g butter, 500g icing flour and 1/2 tablespoon peppermint extract plus a little green food colouring.
For the decorations - 2 packs of white fondant icing, 1 pack of red fondant icing, 2 bags of M&M's. 

York Mint Brownies

This is not really a new recipe as it's my favourite brownie recipe but I wanted to share it with you again as it's just so good.  Brownies are a great blank canvas as you can add in extra ingredients and come up with something different each time. I've used this recipe with mint oreos, regular oreos, sweet and salty m&m mix, reese's peanut butter cups and different chocolate bars/sweets. It's so versatile and turns out beautifully each time. 

A colleague of mine went to America last year and bought me these York Mint chocolates so I could bake them into a brownie for her. It has been forgotten and packed away what with packing and moving house last year and generally being quite busy. They are long overdue and fortunately they were worth the wait! The brownies were really fudgy, chocolatey and minty. The York Mint chocolate pieces melted into a sticky, gooey, minty goodness. I'll have to buy more of these when I next visit America.

I'm sending these to a new blog challenge hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen called Simply Eggcellent. It's to celebrate the humble egg and this recipe uses 4 large free range eggs so I hope it qualifies.

 melt chocolate and butter 

 whisk in eggs 

 adding the chopped york mint pieces 

ready to bake 

200g butter, chopped into smallish cubes
375g sugar
170g chocolate, roughly chopped
165g flour
80g cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large free range eggs
12 York Mint chocolate pieces, roughly chopped

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• In a medium sized pan, melt the butter and chocolate.
• Then whisk in the sugar, salt and vanilla extract. 
• CONTINUE mixing until you get a smooth mixture then remove from heat and set aside for a few minutes.
• Whisk in the eggs one at a time and then the flour and cocoa powder until you get a fudgy mixture as shown. 
• Stir in 8 of the chopped York mint chocolates, reserving the rest to sprinkle on top.
• Pour the mixture into a square baking pan and sprinkle the remaining chopped York mint chocolates on top. 
• Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes until the top is crisp and the edges are cooked. 
• Allow to cool in the pan. 
• Slice and enjoy!

After Eight Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

This is the final recipe from my New Year's Day Afternoon Tea. As you can see I was very busy baking and didn't take as many photos as I would have liked! When I was planning the menu, I decided early on that I definitely had to have cupcakes. I definitely wanted something chocolatey even though there was quite a lot of chocolate on the menu. I knew that chocolate and mint was a faovurite combination for some of my guests so I decided to go with that. I baked an after eight mint inside the cupcake to give it an extra minty flavour. It was topped with a mint buttercream and half an after eight mint. They looked really pretty on the table and tasted delicious. The mint was very refreshing and really complemented the chocolate well. 

 place an after eight mint in the middle of the batter before baking 

 after baking - you can see that the chocolate has melted into the cake. The minty centre is a lovely surprise when you bite into the cupcake

 a close up of the cupcakes

For the cupcakes

250g plain four
45g cocoa powder
60g dark chocolate pieces
225g butter
1 cup water
300g sugar
2 eggs
1.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.5 tablespoons peppermint extract 

After eight mints

For the mint buttercream icing

250g butter

500g icing sugar, sifted

1-2 teaspoons peppermint extract (adjust to taste) 

1 - 2 tablespoon milk

green food colouring 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Place the butter, cocoa powder, chocolate and water to cook over a medium heat. (This is what will be referred to as the chocolate mixture in the rest of the recipe)
• In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda and sugar together.
• Carefully add half the melted chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk. 
• Pour in the remaining chocolate mixture and continue to whisk.
• Add the eggs one at a time and continue whisking. 
• Then add the sour cream, vanilla extract and peppermint extract.
• Place a scoop of batter in each cupcake case.
• Press an after eight mint into the centre. 
• Bake for approximately 15-18 minutes or until cake is cooked and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely before frosting.
• Make the icing by beating the butter and sugar until smooth.
• Add in the peppermint extract and green food colouring. 
• Add in the milk if required to achieve the right consistency.
• Pipe the buttercream on top of the cupcake and decorate with half an after eight mint cut into triangles.  

Chocolate and Mint Loaf

Remember I mentioned in previous posts about getting goodies from a friend who visited America? I asked for Andes creme de menthe baking chips as I've baked with them previously and they were really tasty so I was really pleased she got me a bag of these. Unfortunately it was one of the hottest days of the year when I received these and we were out for the whole day so these sat baking in the car boot. Unsurprisingly when I got to them they had melted completely so I popped them in the fridge when I got home and it solidifed again but in a giant lump. I didn't want to waste them so I decided to incorporate them into a chocolate and mint loaf cake. I put about 1/2 of the bag into the cake and sprinkled some on top of the cake before baking. I used the remainder to make a minty chocolate ganache to go with the cake. The result was a really moist chocolatey and minty cake with a delicious mint chocolate ganache. You could still taste chunks of the mint chocolate in the cake which was my favourite part. I suspect these would be good in brownies too which was my other option. 

 This is what it looked like after it had melted and then been refrigerated 

 

For the cake
100 grams plain flour
100 grams caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
20 g cocoa powder
90 g unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
75 ml sour cream
~150g Andes Creme de menthe baking chips + ~25g for the topping

For the ganache
50 mls double cream
~100g Andes Creme de menthe baking chips

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Place all the ingredients for the cake in a stand mixer and mix until smooth. Alternatively mix everything by hand in a large mixing bowl.
• Pour the cake batter into a loaf tin.
• Sprinkle the top with Andes creme de menthe baking chips.
• Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it's almost boiling.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the mint baking chips.
• Continue stirring until smooth.
• Pour the ganache over the cake before serving. 

No Bake Chocolate and Peppermint Squares

For St Patrick's Day earlier this year, I made a No Bake Chocolate and Peppermint Slice. It was hugely popular and I've had repeated requests since. I had to make something for a leaving lunch at work and I knew that this was one of her favourite treats from me so I decided to make it again but jazz it up a little. I used my individual brownie tin to get individual squares and omitted the chocolate topping. They were equally as popular this time and I wish I'd made more as they disappeared in no time!

It has a buttery oreo base and a rich, minty cream cheese filling topped with Aero bubbles. They are very rich and decadent so these individual portions are perfect. This is a really quick and simple recipe which only requires 5 ingredients. It's more time consuming making these individual portions but I think they look much nicer than making a large tray and slicing it up.

I'm entering this to the Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is No Bake.

I'm also sending it to Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from CakeyBoi and Kat from The Baking Explorer. The theme is also No Bake.

 Top tip - place strips of parchment paper before putting the oreo base in as this helps you remove the squares later 

 top with cream cheese filling and decorate then chill in the fridge 

 perfectly portioned treats 

An original recipe by bakingaddict 

For the base
2 packs oreo cookies
100g butter

For the filling
280g cream cheese
60g butter
150g icing sugar
4 teaspoons mint extract
green food colouring

• Spray a individual brownie pan with non stick spray then line with strips of parchment paper - 2 strips per square.
• Place the oreo cookies in a food processor and blitz until it resembles fine crumbs. Alternatively, place in a ziplock back and bash with a rolling pin.
• Melt 100g butter and stir into the cookie crumbs.
• Press into the base of your tin and allow to set in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
• Make the filling by placing the cream cheese in an electric mixer and beating on a medium speed until smooth.
• Add in butter and icing sugar and continue beating.
• Finally add in mint extract and green food colouring.
• Spread the filling over the chilled cookie base and smooth with a palette knife. 
• Decorate with mint aero bubbles as shown.
• Chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Chocolate and Mint Biscuit Slice

This is a quick and simple no bake recipe which is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. It's perfect for parties or picnics or BBQs and I'm sure I'll be making more of these as we are heading into summer. The recipe is based on a malteser traybake recipe from BBC Good Food but I've used Mint Aero Bubbles instead. 

I'm entering this to the Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is summer and this refreshing no bake recipe is perfect for summer. 

I'm also sending it to Dead Easy Desserts hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake. This takes less than 30 minutes to prepare excluding chilling time.

 mint aero bubbles, golden syrup, butter, digestive biscuits, milk chocolate

 adding the crushed digestive biscuits to the chocolate mixture

 stirring in the mint aero bubbles

 press into a tray and chill for a few hours then slice

 I love that you can still the green aero bubbles

Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food
I'd recommend making a double recipe as one won't be enough!

100g butter
200g milk chocolate
3 tablespoon golden syrup
250g crushed digestive biscuits
225g Mint Aero Bubbles

• Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a medium sized saucepan.
• Add in the crushed digestive biscuits
• Allow to cool slightly before adding the Mint Aero Bubble otherwise it will melt 
• Press into a square or rectangle baking tray and chill in the fridge for a few hours or preferably overnight.
• Slice and enjoy.