Grasshopper Cake

I know, I know. I've said many many times how I just don't like making cakes. A lot of it is because the stress of making it look pretty, something I've never been able to master. But this new trend of "naked" cakes, where you don't have any frosting on the sides, are making me feel a little better because I can make a delicious cake that doesn't have to look pretty...and let's face it, this one is kind of ugly looking...in an ugly yet delicious pepperminty chocolately kind of way.

So what had me craving cake? Probably the fact that my newest issue of Food Network Magazine (one of the best magazines out there) had a whole section of different types of cakes. This Grasshopper one caught my eye, partly because it was one of those "naked" type of cake, plus it's chocolate and peppermint, which I've been in a major chocolate mode lately for some reason. So I figured, what the hell, I might as well make myself a cake.

I started by preparing my 8inch pans by spraying them with Baker's Joy and then cutting out circles of parchment paper to put in the bottom of the pans. That was one of those tricks I learned when I was preparing to make my friends' wedding cake. It makes it so much easier to get the cake out of the pan, and not lose a big chunk of the bottom.

Since I was making a chocolate cake, I had to prepare the chocolaty part! I whisked together 1 cup of cocoa powder and 1.5 cups of boiling water. I then set it aside for the very end of the batter prep so it could cool.

This was a very different recipe than I'm used to when it comes to making a cake. I had all the dry ingredients and then added all the wet ingredients into them to finish it off. I always feel like it's the other way around, so I'm doing something wrong. But this was not wrong and so very easy.

I combined 2.5 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 1.5 tsp baking bowder, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt together. Just whisking them so they were mixed together evenly.

Then I added in 3 room temperature eggs, 3/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup sour cream and 2 tsps vanilla extract.

Once all those ingredients are mixed together for a few minutes on medium speed, you slow it down to low speed and slowly add in the chocolate! Mix for a minute or two and then finish off by mixing with a spatula. And then you're ready to pour the batter into the pans!

Of course, you have to pick up and drop the pans onto the counter to pop all the air bubbles. I did it many times just because air bubbles kept coming up to the top! But it's good practice to make sure there are no holes in your cake. Luckily, I did not end up with batter on my ceiling (which has happened before). I then baked the cakes for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees! When I took them out to cool, I tried a little Pinterest trick I had seen, where you put a piece of bread on top of the cake while it cools to keep the top of the cake soft. I don't know what does it, but the bread keeps the tops soft and the bread literally feels like it was toasted. It was AWESOME. Science at work people. 

Meanwhile, I went ahead and prepped the filling for in-between the layers. You start by bringing 1.5 cups of whole milk to a simmer in a heavy saucepan. 

 Then in another bowl, you'll combine 1/2 cup of sugar, 3 tbsp cornstarch, 3/4 tsp peppermint extract, 1 egg and 1 egg yolk.

Once the milk has simmered, add half to the rest of the ingredients in the bowl, mix together and then add back to the saucepan. You'll then bring that to a boil while whisking constantly for 2-3 minutes. 

Once that's done, pour it into a new bowl, add in 3oz (or 3/8 cup) of white chocolate and 1 drop of green food coloring to give it that "natural" minty color.

Then cover with plastic wrap (pushed all the way down to the top of the mixture) and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

[Side note: at this point, I went to a yoga class and when I came home, I walked in and was hit in the face with the smell of chocolate cake. It was pretty much the most amazing thing ever because sometimes I don't notice the baking smell since I'm around it the whole time.]

So back to the cake and putting it all together! I sliced off the top of the bottom layer using my fun little cake leveler tool that I love. 

Then I mixed in a bunch of mini chocolate chips into the middle minty mixture and poured it onto the bottom layer.

When I put the second layer on top (which I decided not to level because I kind of wanted to go for the dome look), I realized I clearly put too much of the minty filling on because it started exploding out the sides. Whatever! It'll still be delicious and gave it a....uh....unique look to it! Right, unique. We'll go with that.

For the topping, I made homemade whipped cream by combining 1.5 cups of cold heavy cream, 1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar, and 1/8 tsp peppermint extract. I plopped that on and then went a little overboard topping it with some mini chocolate chips.

It doesn't look pretty by any means, but it sure does look delicious, and it tastes amazing too!! Craving satisfied.

[Final Side Note - which is more of a question: How is it that someone who can bake a cake can NEVER seem to be able to bake a potato all the way through, no matter how long it bakes for??? Serious FAIL.]

Christmas Baking: Peppermint Cream Squares

Along with loving to bake, I love playing hostess. For the past few years, two of my best friends and I get together around Christmas for dinner and girl time (ie. painting our nails, watching Christmas movies, chit chatting, etc.), and this time they came to my place! We decided to do a meal made of appetizers and of course dessert and hot cocoa. It was perfect. I played Christmas music and I set the table with my Christmas dishes, and put candles in some painted mason jars to flank my trifle bowl filled with ornaments.

See? LOVE to host.

So for dessert, I made Peppermint Cream Squares. Peppermint is definitely a holiday flavor, especially considering I made peppermint rice krispie treats for this dinner last year. They were pretty good....veeeeery sticky/buttery/rich, but delicious!

I started by prepping the peppermint powder....by crushing 30 candies with my heavy duty rolling pin. I'm always worried one of my neighbors is going to come and ask what all the racket is. Of course, even though I doubled up the baggies, they still some how poked through and powder started coming through the bag, but it worked out.

Then I lined an 8x8 dish with parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray to prep for the shortbread crust, and put the oven to 350.

I then beat 1 cup (2 sticks) of room temperature butter until creamy, and added 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

After adding 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 cups of flour (and mixing until there were no dry spots), the crust was made! I put 1/2 cup of the crust in the fridge for topping the bars off, and the rest I pressed into the pan.

I then baked the crust for about 22 minutes, and began making the filling. I started by mixing 1/2 cup of powdered sugar into the peppermint powder.

And then I mixed 1/4 cup of softened cream cheese with 2 tbsp milk.

Once that was well mixed, I added in most of the peppermint powder and the last 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. When the filling was done, I poured it over the warm crust from the oven and made sure it was spread even.

And then I crumbled up the dough from the fridge to create the top crust! And baked it for another 12 minutes. And then sprinkled the rest of the crushed peppermint powder on top while it cooled.

I was a fan! You just can't really talk while eating them...

Along with the peppermint cream squares, I saved some sugar cookies from the batch I made for my parents and aunt and uncle.

And froze some cool whip and used my little cookie cutters to cut out shapes for our hot cocoa!

So much Christmas cheer! It was great. And of course it was a fantastic time with my girls.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! (Yea, we were having fun)

Peppermint White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

As Christmas is winding down, I had to make one more holiday flavored dessert! I decided to go with something a little easy, yet incredibly tasty, Peppermint White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats!

This recipe is for a 8x8 pan, but if you double it, you can make a 9x13 pan for a crowd. But if you do that, it needs to be a big crowd because these things are sweet and you won't want a huge piece!

You'll want to start by crushing some peppermint candies. Make sure you leave a few chunky pieces!

I probably crushed about 20, and I used my meat tenderizer to get the job done!

Then, in a skillet, you'll want to melt about 20 marshmallows and 1.5 tablespoons of butter on low heat.

While these are melting (and you're stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn to the pan), measure out 3 cups of Rice Krispies (or generic brand if you can find one!) into a bowl. Then you'll want to pour half of your crushed peppermint into it. Make sure you get a nice mixture of the powder and pieces in the half you pour in. Doing this step makes it easier to combine everything!

Then once your marshmallows are melted and gooey...

...you'll take it off the heat and pour in the Rice Krispie Peppermint mixture, and make sure it's all combined well. And then you'll pour it into your pre-greased pan.

Now a few tips! If you find your spoon is sticky and you're not able to get everything to stay in the pan, grease a spatula and use that to push everything down. Also, as soon as you pour everything out of your skillet, immediately put it under some water to soak. It'll be far easier to clean when you're done!

Once you have your treats in the pan, you'll want to melt about half a bag of white chocolate chips.

And then you'll spread the white chocolate on top of the treats.

And then pour the rest of the peppermint candies on top of the white chocolate!

Put the treats in the fridge for about 20 minutes so the chocolate sets, and then they're ready to eat!

They're super sweet, but the perfect touch of peppermint and white chocolate flavors! I suggest enjoying it with a nice cup of hot chocolate!