Birthday chaos with a sweet ending: Chocolate Mint Cake

I have a confession to make.

Baking is not my forte. Sure I can bake the occasional treat, scones, cookies, muffins, and of course my specialty is cheesecakes, and lately I've even tackled a few pies (with limited success). But when it comes to fancy elaborate desserts, the Kitchen Vixen quickly becomes the Kitchen Victim. The whole idea of making things according to a scientific process, where the measurements need to be exact, is a skill I have yet to master. I need more patience, and calm. My cooking is chaotic and exciting, but baking needs a more methodical approach that I have yet to develop. The other day while making this cake for my stepson's birthday, I committed the cardinal sin of baking—I didn't read the entire recipe before baking it. So as I prepared the filling and let it cool, I was perplexed as to why the mixture of whipping cream and chocolate wasn't thickening. I couldn't understand it and thought that my measurements must have been off. If I had been cooking, I would just add more of whatever substance would make the mixture thicker, and so following my instincts that's what I did. I threw in some more chocolate and started melting it. Then I read the instructions again, and had to stop. Quickly, I realized that the mixture needed to be whipped to be thickened. I immediately took it off the heat and strained out the solid chocolate. Somehow, the cake gods must have been smiling on me because in the end it all turned out fine. The cake even looked pretty. Not quite as I had imagined, but not far off. So what kind of cake does this boy-cum teenager enjoy? Well I took a guess and went with Mint-Chocolate, due to his affection for the green-tinged icecream of the same persuasion. “You made it?” he asked as he pondered the uncut cake. “From scratch?” I’m glad I didn’t throw in the towel half way through.

Nathaniel's Birthday Cake

Adapted from Triple Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mint Filling Bon Appetit Dec. 2001

Filling
8 oz imported white chocolate
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp light corn syrup

4 oz of mini chocolate chips
1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Cake
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk

Chocolate Glaze
4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

4 oz of milk chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp peppermint extract

Filling

Melt chocolate with cream and corn syrup over a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, add in peppermint extract and let cool to room temperature. Once cool, pour mixture into stand mixer bowl and whisk until thickened. Stir in mini chocolate chips and refrigerate.

Cake

Prepare two 9” round cake pans. Butter pans; line bottom with a round of parchment paper; butter paper; flour cake pans. Preheat oven at 350 F

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. Put butter into stand mixer bowl and beat until light in colour. Add in both sugars and continue to mix until creamy. Add in vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition. Add in half of flour mixture and incorporate with half of buttermilk. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk.

Pour mixture into prepared pans.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until tester inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

Cool cakes.

Once cool, place one cake on serving plate. Spread filling over top of cake. Place second cake on top of filling.

Glaze

Melt chocolates over double boiler with butter, corn syrup and peppermint extract.

Let cool slightly, so mixture is slightly less runny, but can still be poured. Pour half of glaze over cake. Spread over top and let drip over sides. Chill for about 15 minutes. Pour remaining glaze over cake, and spread over sides, smoothing chocolate on edges.

Refrigerate until 1 hour before serving.

Vixen’s note:

For those of you who bake a lot and like rich cakes, you may be tempted to add more chocolate to the cake mixture, as I was. I am glad I refrained as the filling and glaze are extremely rich, and the less rich cake was very complimentary.

Happy eating!