Peppermint Bark Bundt Cake

Mr. and Mrs. Christmas Confection 

are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter

Peppermint Bark 

To

Chocolate Breakfast Bundt Cake

son of Mr. and Mrs. Let Them Eat Cake Anytime

You are cordially invited to the December wedding 

of a match made in heaven

 

Is there anything not to love about peppermint bark?  Is there anything not to love about chocolate breakfast bundt cake?  It's so nice to see such good flavors join together. 

Cake:

2 cups (9 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

½ cup high quality Dutch process cocoa powder


¾ cup water


2 cups sugar


1 cup sour cream


1 tablespoon vanilla extract


2 large eggs

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/2 cup roughly chopped *Hershey's mint chocolate chips




Glaze:


½ cup powdered sugar


1 to 2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Frosting: 

1/2 cup *Hershey's mint chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons light corn syrup 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup crushed candy canes



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine flour, soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until incorporated and set aside.

Gently melt butter in a large saucepan. Add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Add water and remove from heat. Whisk in the following ingredients, in order listed: sugar, sour cream, vanilla, eggs and peppermint extract. Whisk until smooth.

Pour chocolate mixture over flour and whisk until well blended and no lumps remain. Spray a 10-cup Bundt pan with “Pam with Flour." Pour mixture into prepared Bundt pan. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the surface of the batter and gently swirl with a knife to barely incorporate the chocolate.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake is just firm to the touch and is starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. While cake is cooling prepare the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon cocoa powder with enough milk to make a thin glaze. Carefully invert the warm cake onto a large plate or cake stand. Using a pastry brush liberally brush surface of cake with glaze. Cool completely. 

To make frosting, gently melt mint chocolate chips, butter, light corn syrup and vanilla extract in the microwave. Stir until smooth and shiny. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cold cake. Sprinkle crushed candy canes over top and allow to sit until glaze becomes slightly firm.

Notes on the recipe:

-The crushed candy canes will start to soften and get sticky after a day or two.  It might be best to add the frosting and crushed candy canes on the day you will serve the cake.

-I made a side by side comparison of this cake using Hershey's special dark cocoa powder and E. Guittard cocoa rouge cocoa powder. The E. Guittard was unbelievably better but it can be hard to find.  Here in Connecticut you can buy it at Bishops's market in Guillford or the Williams Sonoma outlet (!!!! love that store) at the Westbrook outlets.

-*If you can't find Hershey's mint chocolate chips substitute semisweet chocolate chips plus 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract.

-There is some weird science going on with this cake batter.  If you mix the ingredients in the order listed: sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs then the batter will be fairly thick. If you add the sugar last the batter will be very thin and the chopped chocolate will sink, stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

-I always spray my Bundt pan with “Pam with Flour” and my cakes always release perfectly. I used to grease and flour but that never worked very well – little pieces of the cake would stick and tear away when I inverted the cake. Also, the flour would inevitably leave a white haze over portions of the cake.