Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cake

An easy Chocolate Cake recipe that is full of peppermint flavor. This Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cake is perfect to serve to your family and guests.

Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cake

I can’t believe that Christmas is right around the corner. It’s going to be here before I know it, but I’m totally ready! I’ve got my presents bought and wrapped and our Christmas meal is planned. I’m ready for St. Nick to come down my chimney and clean my house! LOL! Don’t I wish… Who wouldn’t love to wake up on Christmas morning to find the house cleaned, the dishes done, and the laundry folded. I tell ya, if I could add “window cleaning” to my Amazon Wishlist I totally would (and yes, I tried).

In lieu of not having a clean house, I guess this Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cake will make me happy enough to ignore the dust bunnies in the corners and crumbs on the kitchen floor. It has two layers of chocolate cake, chocolate frosting spotted with crushed candy canes, chocolate peppermint pirouette  cookies around the perimeter and a Hershey’s candy cane bar on top. Yep! Let’s just enjoy this cake and pretend that the house is clean, shall we?

I just happened to come across these chocolate peppermint pirouette cookies at Williams-Sanoma while I was shopping on Black Friday. I was so tickled that I found that and knew exactly what I was going to do with them.

I’ve always wanted to make a pirouette cookie cake. The stripes are just so stunning, but with the red and white stripes this cake is just WOW! And the best part is that you don’t need any cake decorating skills to make it pretty.

We start off with baking two 6″ chocolate cakes. Let them cool completely, wrap in plastic and freeze them overnight. It’s so much easier to frost a frozen cake.

Crush a few candy canes if you can’t find the candy cane crumbs.

Then we make the chocolate buttercream frosting.

Then frost and decorate.

Decorating Made Easy

You can make your own candy can bark for the topping if you have the time. To make things easy and quick, I just picked up a Hershey’s Candy Cane Bar and cut it into different sized triangles. It could not have been easier.

I loved how this cake turned out. I hope that you can find the chocolate peppermint pirouette cookies at Williams-Sanoma. I’ve looked online and didn’t find it on their website. Pop into the store and look for them.

Worst case scenario is to use regular chocolate pirouette cookies. It won’t be as pretty, but it will still be delicious. Or you can use mini candy canes, red frosting, or any other Christmas candies.

If you have some extra crushed candy canes leftover, you can make these Candy Cane Snowball Cookies, Candy Cane Meringue Cookies, and Candy Cane Toffee.

You can find more layered cakes including this Candy Cane Cake.

White Chocolate Christmas Cake

Malted Milk Chocolate Cake

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Yield: 16

Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cake

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An easy Chocolate Cake recipe that is full of peppermint flavor. This Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Cake is perfect to serve to your family and guests. 

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake

• 6 Tbsp salted butter
• 1 3/4 C + 2 Tbsp flour
• 2/3 C cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 2/3 C sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 C + 2 Tbsp milk
• 2/3 C boiling water or hot coffee

For the Peppermint Frosting

• 1 C unsalted butter
• 1 C shortening
• 2 pounds powdered sugar
• 1/4 C cocoa powder
• 1/4 C milk
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 3 Tbsp crushed candy cane bits

Instructions

For the Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Prepare two 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray and flour and bake even strips.
3. Melt the butter and let it cool. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder. To it add the sugar, eggs, milk, and hot water /coffee. Beat until mixed and smooth.
4. Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 30 -35 minutes.
5. Cool the cakes in the pan for 15 minutes before turning them out onto a wire cooling rack.
6. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze overnight.

For the Frosting

1. Beat the butter and shortening for 5 minutes. It should be smooth, light yellow, and fluffy. 
2. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and milk until desired consistency is reached. Add in the peppermint extract and candy cane bits. 

Decorate the cake

1. Remove the cakes from the fridge. Frost the top of one layer and add a covering of crushed candy cane. Top with the second cake and crumb coat the cake. Place into the fridge for an hour to set.
2. Carefully cut the pirouette cookies in half with a serrated knife and set them aside. 
3. Frost the cake. It doesn't have to be neat. Add the pirouette cookies around the cake pushing them into the frosting to make them stick. 
4. Use a serrated knife to cut large triangles out of a Hershey's candy cane bar or homemade bark. Top the cake with the candy shards and top with more crushed candy canes.

Notes

 

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• 
  Wilton Round Cake Pan, 6 x 3-Inches

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