whoops! i lied. i told you i was giving you three fresh mint recipes this week but actually i'm giving you four. so go ahead, smooch everyone, because you're gonna have really good breath.

eggboy and i are off on a road trip to chicago for one really quick second before wheat harvest starts. we're gonna eat car snacks and listen to the third plate on tape and hopefully not have to stop at too many gas station potties along the way, and when we arrive, we are going to eat many many tacos!

we're gonna miss macaroni, but they'll get to have some quality grandma and grandpa time :)

have a great weekend, everybody!

this cake is a nice rich chocolatey moist thing that's been infused with fresh mint leaves and frosted all ombré-like, making it the cool kid in school. the frosting also has mint in it! it is double mint. like the gum, but better.

chocolate mint cake with buttercream frosting

makes one 2-layer 8-inch cake

ingredients

cake:

about 8 fresh mint leaves

1 1/4 c whole milk

1 3/4 c sugar

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour

3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 c flavorless oil, like canola

1 tb vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3/4 c boiling water

frosting:

about 8 fresh mint leaves

2 c unsalted butter

4 c powdered sugar

a good pinch of salt

assembly:

green food coloring

clues

cake: 

preheat oven to 350.

grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.

muddle the fresh mint leaves in a saucepan and pour in the milk. bring to a simmer over medium heat, and keep it at a low simmer (lowering the level of the heat as needed), stirring often, for 15 minutes. remove it from the heat, strain out the mint leaves, and measure out 1 cup of milk. set it aside to cool slightly. discard the remaining milk and mint leaves. 

in a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. in a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs. (make sure that the milk has cooled enough so that it doesn't cook the eggs!) whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then stir in the boiling water. pour into cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. begin checking for doneness at 28 minutes.

let cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then turn the cakes onto a lightly greased cooling rack.

frosting:

muddle the fresh mint leaves in a saucepan and add the butter. melt the butter and heat over medium low for 15 minutes, stirring. strain out the mint leaves and then add the butter to a large bowl. place the bowl in an ice bath and use an electric mixer to beat it until it becomes pale and fluffy. beat in the sugar and salt.

assembly:

once your cakes are fully cooled, level them. place one layer on a cake board, spread a thick layer of frosting on top, and then place the other layer on top of that. use an offset spatula to frost a thin layer of frosting all over for a crumb coat. place the cake in the freezer or refrigerator so that the crumb coat firms up. divide the remaining frosting into five bowls and color four of them with green food coloring, increasing the amount of coloring for each bowl, so the colors get darker and darker. Fill a piping bag fitted with a large round tip with the white frosting and pipe around the top edge of the cake. Once you’ve made a complete rotation, squeeze out all of the remaining frosting from the bag and then fill it with the lightest green and pipe directly next to the frosting that you just piped on. Repeat until you’ve covered the whole cake. Use a bench scraper to scrape off all of the excess frosting and create smooth edges. Scrape off the bench scraper each time you scrape down the cake. (for some helpful cake decorating tips, go here.)

enjoy!

-yeh!

this post features wooden measuring cups, measuring spoons, a mixing spoon, and a spatula from one of my most favorite makers, polder's old world market. it is a family-owned company that makes some of the most beautiful handmade wooden kitchen utensils that i've ever used. i've had these goodies for months now and i use them nearly every day. they are the sponsors of this post and from now until the end of the month, they are offering 25% off of all orders with the code yeh25! thanks so much, polder's!!!

also pictured in this post: cake stand // mixing bowl // saucepan