Easy Chocolate Peppermint Loaf Cake Recipe 42

EASY CHOCOLATE-PEPPERMINT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan; line bottom with parchment or waxed paper. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.
• In a medium saucepan, bring 2 inches water to a boil. Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl; set over (not in) water. Turn off heat; let stand until melted, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir to combine. Remove bowl; cool 5 minutes.
• Whisk in sugar and vanilla, then eggs and buttermilk until combined. Fold in flour mixture until combined.
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until cake pulls away from sides and a toothpick inserted in center has a few moist crumbs clinging to it, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert onto a wire rack (and leave inverted) to cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Set cake on a serving platter. Tuck parchment or waxed paper under sides of cake. Pour chocolate icing onto center of cake and spread evenly over top and sides. Let set, about 40 minutes. Serve cake with whipped cream and chocolate shavings or peppermint candies, if desired.

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT CAKE

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla; beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. , Bake at 350° for 18-23 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , For filling, beat cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, vanilla and food coloring if desired; beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside about 1 tablespoon crushed candy. Fold remaining candy into cream mixture. Spread between layers and around sides but not over the top. , For glaze, melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add cocoa and water; cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat; whisk in vanilla. Gradually blend in sugar until smooth. Add additional water if necessary. Spread over top of cake. Sprinkle with reserved candy. Chill before serving. Store in the refrigerator.

CHOCOLATE-PEPPERMINT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray six 9-by-2-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line each cake pan with parchment paper and spray parchment.
• In a medium bowl, whisk cocoa with hot water until smooth. Whisk in sour cream; let cool. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to combine after each; scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two parts, alternating with the cocoa mixture and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined.
• Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks to cool 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks; peel off parchment. Reinvert cakes and let cool completely, top sides up.
• Meanwhile, fit a pastry bag with a large plain round tip; fill pastry bag with one-third of the buttercream and set aside.
• Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a cake plate or lazy Susan. Transfer one layer to cake plate and pipe buttercream around the perimeter of the cake. Using about 1 cup remaining buttercream, fill between the buttercream perimeter to create an even layer of filling; sprinkle with some of the crushed peppermint candies. Top with another layer of cake, top side down. Repeat process, filling the cake, piping the buttercream perimeter, creating an even layer with remaining frosting, and sprinkling with peppermint candies, until all the cake layers have been stacked. Spread remaining frosting all over tops and sides of cake; sprinkle top with peppermint candies. Garnish sides of cake plate with any remaining candies; serve.

CHOCOLATE MINT LOAF CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the base and sides of a 22cm square tin. Melt 85g butter and 50g chocolate together in a small pan. Mix 120g flour, 140g sugar, 3 tbsp of the cocoa and ½ tsp bicarbonate in a bowl.
• Whisk together 1 egg with half the buttermilk (about 140ml). Scrape the melted chocolate mixture and egg mixture into the dry ingredients, along with 100ml boiling water. Whizz briefly with an electric whisk until lump-free. Scrape into the tin and bake for 18-20 mins until a skewer comes out clean.
• Cool the cake in the tin for 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling while you repeat steps 1 and 2 to make a second cake. Cool both completely.
• To make the icing, melt the After Eights and cream together in a saucepan. Cool, then chill until spreadable.
• Trim the cake edges, then halve to make 4 rectangles. Use half of the icing to sandwich the layers together, then spread the rest over the top and sides. Chill.
• Knead some colouring into the ready-to-roll icing with the peppermint extract. Roll out on an icing sugar dusted surface, then lift over to cover the cake, smoothing with your hands. Trim excess icing, then scatter with decorations.
• Chill again for 1 hr to firm up, then serve or keep in the fridge, removing 30 mins before serving.

MOLTEN PEPPERMINT-CHOCOLATE CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. In a small heavy saucepan, heat butter and chocolate over low heat until blended, stirring constantly; transfer to a large bowl., Add eggs, egg yolks, sugar, extract and salt to chocolate mixture; mix well. Stir in flour. Pour into four greased 6-oz. custard cups or ramekins., Place custard cups on a baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160° and edges of cakes are set., Remove from oven; let stand 1 minute. Run a knife around sides of cakes; remove to dessert plates. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately.

PEPPERMINT LOAF CAKE

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans and set aside.
• 3. Place cake mix, pudding, oil, water, extract and egg whites in a large mixing bowl.
• 4. Beat four minutes. The batter will be thick.
• 5. Place about 2 cups of the batter into a small mixing bowl. Add red food coloring and mix well. (How much food coloring you add will depend on how red you want the batter to be. It will vary with the type of food coloring you use.)
• 6. Divide the white batter between the two pans. Next, add the red batter on top of the white.
• 7. Using a knife, swirl the two batters together for a marbled effect.
• 8. Bake 40-45 minutes. until done.
• 9. Remove cakes from oven and cool 5 minutes on a rack.
• 10. While cakes are cooling, prepare the glaze.
• 11. Glaze: Place the confectioners' sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Add extract and 2 tablespoons of water. Add red food coloring, if desired. Mix well.
• 12. Remove cakes from pan, place on a rack. While still warm spoon glaze over the cakes.
• 13. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy.

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH PEPPERMINT FROSTING

Steps:

• Make the cake: Set a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease an 8-by-8-inch square or 9-inch round light-colored metal baking pan with oil.
• In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar and eggs. Use a whisk or an electric mixer to beat the mixture until foamy and slightly lighter in texture and color, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sour cream, 1/2 cup oil, vanilla and salt, and whisk until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.
• Whisk in the cocoa powder until combined. Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda, and whisk until combined and no streaks of flour remain. Stir the espresso powder into the hot water, then add the mixture to the bowl. Whisk until incorporated.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap on the counter a few times to release any large air bubbles. Bake until puffed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan set on a rack for about 45 minutes.
• While the cake bakes, clean the mixing bowl and make the frosting: Add the butter to the bowl and mix on medium-high with an electric mixer until smooth, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Turn the speed to low, and slowly add the confectioners' sugar. Mix until the sugar is moistened, then add 2 teaspoons of the cream, the vanilla extract, 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract and salt. Turn the speed up to medium-high, and whip until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes, adding a bit more cream a teaspoon at a time, if necessary, to make a smooth and light frosting. Taste the frosting, and add a few more drops of peppermint extract if desired. The frosting can be kept at room temperature while the cake finishes baking and cooling.
• Top the cooled cake with an even layer of frosting, then use the tip of a toothpick to dot the frosting with a few small dots of gel food coloring, if using. Use a spoon or offset spatula to swirl the food coloring into the frosting to create candy cane-like stripes - just a few swipes will do the trick. If you mix it in too much, the frosting will turn pink. Top the cake with sprinkles and shaved chocolate, if desired. Store leftover cake loosely covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.