High Altitude Mint Chocolate Chip Cake
Soft and fluffy dark chocolate cake with a hint of mint, frosted with mint chocolate chip buttercream.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp peppermint extract (NOT mint extract)
- ½ cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
Buttercream
- 2 cups unsalted butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp peppermint extract (NOT mint extract)
- 2-4 tbsp milk, only if needed for desired consistency
- 3 oz semi-sweet or dark, good-quality chocolate, finely chopped
- 8-10 squares good-quality chocolate, for decorating
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and spray the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray. If making half the recipe, use three 6-inch cake pans.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, oil, vanilla and peppermint extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk until combined, about 15 seconds. Use a spatula to fold in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake on the center oven rack for about 22-28 minutes, until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set the pans on a cooling rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing to combine.
- Add the vanilla and peppermint extract, and increase the speed to medium (#4-6 on a Kitchen Aid mixer); whip for 4-5 minutes until very light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down occasionally, and only adding the milk if needed for desired consistency.Turn the speed down to "stir" and mix for 2 minutes to eliminate big air bubbles.
- Remove the cooled cakes from the pans. Place one cake layer on a cake board, and frost with a layer of buttercream. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of the chopped chocolate. Top with the second cake layer, more buttercream and more chopped chocolate. Top with the third cake layer, then frost all over with a thin "crumb coat" of buttercream.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set the crumb coat. Fold the remaining chopped chocolate into the remaining buttercream, and frost the cake all over with a final coat of buttercream.
- If desired, fit a piping bag with tip 6B, fill with the remaining buttercream, and pipe swirls on top of the cake. Top each swirl with a square of chocolate.
Notes
Leftover cake should be stored in an airtight container or cake carrier for 3 days.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/