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This Double Chocolate Peppermint Cake has two chocolate cake layers, white chocolate whipped cream and is finished off with crushed candy canes and chocolate shavings — this is the dessert you want to bring to the Christmas party!
Hi, hi! Ashley from The Recipe Rebel here with you again and I’m bringing you a cake that I am super, super excited about.
I don’t know about you all, but I for one love mint and chocolate. Really, I love chocolate and anything. Am I the only one?
I know some people who don’t like white chocolate, or don’t like mint and chocolate, or they don’t like fruit and chocolate, and I will admit — I think they’re a little bit crazy. When it comes to anything chocolate, you won’t see me turning it down!
Like this cake? The day I made it I offered it up to my Facebook friends because I needed to get it out of the house before I ate the whole thing. Needless to say, I got a text from a friend about 3 minutes later saying, “yes!! Yes, me! I’ll take it!” And there she went.
The chocolate cake is originally the Black Magic Cake from Hershey — it’s the best chocolate cake there is (in my mind), and it seems like almost everybody has reshared it in some form. I made a couple changes, and my method is a bit different (because I bake the way my mom taught me, which is sometimes a little less conventional!), but it is still the same delicious, fudgy, chocolatey piece of Heaven.
I do like to use whole wheat flour when I’m baking a chocolate cake, because I find the nutty flavor is hidden in the rich chocolate flavor, and you can’t see or taste the difference so why not make things a little healthier? I’m all about eating cake and feeling a little less guilty about it. Aren’t you??
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Double Chocolate Peppermint Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon mint extract
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup hot coffee or water
- 1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour, or all-purpose
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
White Chocolate Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 6 ounces chopped white chocolate, about 1 cup
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
- ¼ cup cold water
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Garnish
- crushed candy canes
- chocolate shavings
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease 2 8-inch round baking pans with non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the 2 cups granulated sugar, ½ cup canola oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon mint extract, 1 cup milk, 2 large eggs, and 1 cup hot coffee or water.
- In a separate bowl whisk the 1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour, ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the oil mixture and stir to combine. Divide evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 28-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.
White Chocolate Whipped Cream
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 6 ounces chopped white chocolate, in 30-second intervals on high, stirring each time until completely smooth.
- Refrigerate until it's thoroughly chilled (it won't whip if it's warm!).
- After the cream is chilled, sprinkle the 1 envelope unflavored gelatin over ¼ cup cold water in a small bowl. Let sit for 1 minute, then microwave on high for 20 seconds or until dissolved. Set aside to come to room temperature.
- Whisk the cream mixture with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
- Stir in room temperature gelatin mixture and ¼ cup powdered sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form.
- Place one cake layer on a cake plate and top with half of the whipped cream. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes and chocolate shavings. Repeat layers one more time, using the remaining whipped cream.
- Chill for at least 2 hours so the whipped cream can set properly before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Don’t use the gelatin!! It seized up and I had to strain it out of my beautiful frosting. But, the cake and frosting (after I removed the gelatin) were AMAZING!!
I had the same problem as the other commenter. Whipped cream mixture turned into butter instead of forming stiff peaks. I think I will try to reduce the water with the gelatin bc normally I use significantly less in other recipes. . Cake smells wonderful though.
So what did I do wrong? The unflavored gelatin set up like a block when I let it come back to “room temperature”. The cream did not get thick. I tried whipping it longer, but ended up with it breaking and I had sweet white chocolate butter.
One thing I will say, though; if you want to cut time off the whole process, I used a commercial cake mix, used the coffee for the liquid component, and added Andes Mint baking pieces with mint extract added. I chopped up Dove peppermint bark candies and put more of the Andes mint pieces on top.
This looks amazing! I love chocolate and peppermint.. Especially this time of year! 🙂
I LOVE chocolate & mint. But my ‘thing’ now is chocolate & orange. /me thinking how this would work with orange instead of mint.
hey girl this looks so yummy!
OMG I almost did a face plant into my keyboard when I saw this. Sadly, I live in a household where anything mint is shunned (even the toothpaste isn’t mint but some medicinal herb thing). Had I known about the mint aversion earlier, it would have been a deal breaker. Now I must decide whether to secretly make and eat an entire cake by myself, or to just look at your pictures and imagine.