Mint Chocolate Chunk Cake

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I am posting a fabulous, GREEN cake! 

This is actually a throwback cake that I made for my friend's birthday while we lived in Japan. We had been in the middle of a long TDY, and her husband had to miss her birthday. To top it off, we were all first-time mamas, and we were exhausted. There's nothing worse than your significant other missing your birthday. 

Oh, except when your entire family forgets your birthday. 

But I swear, Mom & Dad, I've let that go.

Anyhow, I wanted Erin to still have a special birthday, and I knew she LOVED mint chocolate chip, so I began experimenting and came up with this beauty for her. And not only is it lovely, but it. is. divine. Divine and sinful, if that's possible. I don't even love mint chocolate chip. I mean, I wouldn't kick it out of bed, but it's not the ice cream I'd pick in an ice cream shop with 31 flavors. You know what I mean? But man, oh man, this made me sing a different tune. We had a girl's lunch for Erin at our favorite Indian restaurant (which I still fantasize about a couple times a week), and I think about 10-15 of us dug into this baby for dessert. There was still about half the cake left over afterward, and you know what Erin and I did? We ate the whole damn thing ourselves. 

We should've been ashamed of ourselves.

But we weren't.

Oh yes, back to the cake. It's a delectable chocolate cake with Andes mint chocolate chunks cut up and baked right into the batter. Between each layer, there are alternating fillings of Andes mint chocolate ganache and mint buttercream. AND chunks of Andes mint chocolate, because more is more. It is frosted with a mint buttercream, and it is topped with more Andes mint chocolate ganache and Andes mint chocolates. 

It's one of the few cakes I've ever eaten that is actually good cold, because it almost tastes like ice cream; so feel free to stick this puppy in the fridge if your heart desires!

Mint Chocolate Chunk Cake
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
1 cup chopped Andes mint chocolate 

* Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. 
* Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Fold in chopped chocolate. Pour batter into prepared pans. 
* Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.


Andes Mint Chocolate Ganache
1.5 cup chopped Andes mint chocolate
1 cup (ish) heavy cream

 **I don't use precise measurements when making ganache, because it depends on the texture I am aiming for. Heat it and pour in as much as you need for the texture you want. *Heat cream in microwave until bubbly. Pour into chopped chocolate and stir until melted and creamy.


Mint Buttercream Frosting 
1.5 cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
 6 cups confectioners' sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 teaspoon peppermint extract 
green food coloring 
1/2 cup cream (may use less)

*In a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar a few cups at a time and mix well. Mix in vanilla, peppermint and food coloring. Gradually add milk until you reach the desired consistency. Keep covered.

Assembly

*Place one cake layer on platter. Pipe a circle of frosting around the edge of the cake circle, creating a dam. Spoon roughly 1/2 a cup of the buttercream frosting into the center of the circle and spread smooth. Drizzle some of your ganache on top of the center of the cake, and sprinkle some chunks of Andes chocolate.
* Place the second cake layer atop the first. Pipe a circle of frosting around the edge of the cake circle, creating a dam. Spoon roughly 1/2 a cup of the buttercream frosting into the center of the circle and spread smooth. Drizzle some of your ganache on top of the center of the cake, and sprinkle some chunks of Andes chocolate.
*Place the third cake layer atop the second. Do a quick, thin crumb coat with frosting and put in refrigerator for a few minutes for the frosting to set.
*Remove cake from fridge and put on the final coat of frosting.
*I topped mine with the remaining ganache and pieces of Andes Mint Chocolates.
*Enjoy!

Hope y'all all have a happy St. Patrick's Day! Alex will be returning home to us tonight, and not a moment too soon. We are all sick and ornery, and I am on my last leg. 

Keep on keepin' on!

-Annette