Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

Complete with little wafer cones, this frosting really does taste like mint chocolate chip ice cream.

I often avoid making these types of chocolate cake, as although they taste lovely, the delicate texture makes it incredibly difficult to frost. When you spread the frosting around the cake, it has a tendency to pull of bits of the cake. Fortunately, there are tiny chocolate pieces in the frosting, so if any crumbs mix in, they'll be cunningly disguised. I would recommend putting the cake in the fridge before icing it and before applying a second layer.

For the 'ice creams', simply scoop remaining frosting into three little blobs and place atop the cake, then trim down three ice cream cones  and prop on top of the scoops.

For the little bunting, trim down a couple of wooden skewers and cut out diamond shapes from various patterns on paper. Fold the diamonds in half to form triangles. Tie a piece of string from one skewer to the other and attach the folded diamonds- glue the tips together.

Recipe from Raspberri Cupcakes

Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients:
For the sponges
180g cake flour (plain flour with 3tbsp substituted for corn flour) (1 ½ cups)
37g cocoa (9tbsp)
1 ½ tsp salt

1tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp baking powder
115g unsalted butter (1 stick)

300g caster sugar (1 ½ cup)

2 eggs

120ml coffee/water (½ cup)
120ml milk (½ cup)
For the frosting
280g unsalted butter (2 ½ sticks)
500g icing sugar, sifted (4 cups)

150g dark chocolate, finely chopped/processed

2-3tsp peppermint extract
green food colouring

Ice cream cones, made smaller by halving the height (optional)
     

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/mark 4 and butter and line two 9 inch cake pans.

2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs until both have been well incorporated.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the coffee and milk. In alternating thirds, starting with the flour mixture, mix in the flour and coffee mixtures to the butter mixture.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Leave to cool before taking the cakes out of  the tins.

5. For the frosting, cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the chocolate. Beat in the peppermint extract to taste and the food colouring until the desired shade is achieved.

6. Once the cakes have cooled, use about a quarter of the frosting to sandwich the layers together, then use the rest to cover the top and sides of the cake and make little scoops of ‘ice cream’.