This Chocolate Peppermint Candy cake is a showstopper for your holiday dessert. A moist and tender chocolate cake is frosted with a white chocolate and peppermint frosting. The peppermint, in the frosting, offsets the sweetness of the buttercream. This cake freezes beautifully, if there are any leftovers!
While lemon is my chocolate, peppermint comes in as a close second when it comes to favorite flavors. I apologize that the photos of this cake doesn’t match the delicious results in the taste. (I will remake this cake and shoot it in a more favorite light.)
I baked this for Christmas Eve caker. These were taken with my iPhone, on Christmas Eve. Please believe me when I tell you that this cake was incredibly delicious and my family loved it!
I used my tried and true moist chocolate cake recipe and then adapted the white chocolate peppermint buttercream frosting from “Cook’s Country” magazine. I wanted to add the candy cane candies, but I couldn’t find any. Instead, I found some mini Ghirardelli Peppermint Candies that worked just as well.
TASTING NOTES: The reason I love this chocolate cake recipe so much is that the buttermilk and oil makes the cake tender and super moist. You can’t taste the coffee that’s added to the batter, but it amps up the chocolate flavor. As for the frosting, it’s rich and the crunch of the peppermint candies is a fun texture. Since there were just a few of us, at dinner, there were a few slices left, so I froze them and enjoyed them at a later time. The cake defrosted beautifully and tasted just as good as on Christmas Eve.
Chocolate Candy Cane Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour I use King Arthur Flour unbleached flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup black coffee cooled (I used a dark roast coffee. You can’t taste the coffee, but the chocolate is deeper in flavor and richness with this ingredient
- 1 cup buttermilk or 1 Tbsp lemon juice with milk to equal 1 cup; or 1 Tbsp vinegar with milk to equal 1 cup
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 1 pouond butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp peppermint extract optional, but added more flavor to the frosting
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 8 ounces white chocolate melted and cooled
- 1 ¾ cups peppermint candy finely ground
Instructions
For the cake:
- Prepare 2 9-inch cake pans (I always line mine with parchment paper and then use a non-stick baking spray with flour.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, & salt in a large bowl or in bowl of stand mixer.
- Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil, & vanilla.
- Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. (Batter will be thin.)
- Divide evenly into cake pans (this cake makes a great sheet cake or cupcakes).
- Bake for 20 minutes (for cupcakes) or 27 minutes (approx) for a baking pan at 350°F or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely and frost.
For the frosting:
- With electric mixer, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Add confectioners' sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed, scraping bowl once, until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add vanilla and cream and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds.
- Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.
- Transfer half of frosting to clean bowl and stir in white chocolate.
- Add 3/4 cup ground peppermint candies to remaining frosting.
To assemble:
- Place one cake layer on serving platter. Spread half of peppermint frosting over cake. Repeat with second cake layer and remaining peppermint frosting.
- Top with final cake layer and frost top and sides with white chocolate frosting, reserving 3/4 cup for final garnish.
- Press remaining ground peppermint candies into sides of cake and sprinkle evenly over top of cake.
- Use remaining white chocolate frosting to pipe ring of dots around base of cake and pipe 6 rosettes on top of cake.
- Place 1 whole peppermint candy on each rosette.
- Baker's notes: I decided to add the crushed peppermint candies into the frosting. I found some Ghirardelli peppermint chocolate squares, so I used those instead of peppermint candies.
Notes
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