dense chocolate cake

Peppermint Brownie Cake

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Ruthanne

This dense chocolate cake is more like a brownie, and full of chopped peppermint patties! This will satisfy your biggest chocolate craving!

This recipe is the perfect solution to the January candy candy dilemma. Although there are no candy canes in this cake (there are gooey York Peppermint patties instead!), this cake is just beautiful decorated with your leftovers from Christmas.

This cake also showcases my theme for the month of January—–melted frosting! I’ve become addicted to melting tubs of ready-made frosting to use in and on various dessert recipes. It changes the consistency of the frosting- turning it into a fudge-like topping or filling and its SO easy– just melt and pour. I can’t wait to show you some of my other melted frosting ideas!

Ok- so you probably want the recipe! Here you go: (click here for a printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups of peppermint patties (quartered)
1 tub of pre-made chocolate frosting
3-4 candy canes to decorate with as desired.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325F degrees
Cut parchment paper to fit in the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan.
Liberally grease bottom and sides of pan, and place parchment paper in bottom.
Melt butter and unsweetened chocolate in a small bowl using the microwave in 30 second increments and stirring in between.
Allow this to cool slightly while you prepare other ingredients.
In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder and salt together.
Cut peppermint patties into quarters,
In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla together for about one minute.
Add melted chocolate and beat on low until well combined.
Beat in the flour mixture.
Stir peppermint patties in using a spoon.
Pour batter into pan, smoothing the top, and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Be careful to not over-bake.
Remove from oven and allow cake to cool for about 10 minutes, this will allow the peppermint patties to harden up a little.
Run a small knife around the edge of the pan and tip cake over onto a cake rack.
Remove parchment paper and allow cake to cool completely.
Spoon tub of frosting into a small bowl and melt in microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Stir and pour over cooled cake. Do this while the cake is still on the cake rack, with a plate underneath to catch the drips. You will not need to use the entire tub of frosting to cover the cake. I placed my leftovers in a zip top bag, clipped a corner and made fun zig zags on the plates I used to serve the cake. You could also dip graham crackers or apple slices in it…for a little post-cake-making snack!!! YUM!
Sprinkle with crushed candy canes and ENJOY!!!

My thoughts: This is an old recipe for me- I’ve been making it for years with a terribly complicated glaze recipe over the top. Honestly, this melted frosting is better- and SO much easier! One note: I was in a rush to take my pictures, so I took them right away. Once this sets and cools, the glaze will harden into a fudge like consistency, and it won’t run like it is in my pictures.

OR you could just eat it up before it cools and enjoy all the gooey warm minty happiness! Enjoy!!!~r
Other minty desserts here on easybaked:

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Posted in Brownies, Cakes and tagged baking, brownie, cake, candy cane, candy canes, chocolate, chocolate frosting, dark chocolate, dense chocolate cake, dessert, frosting, fudge, mint, peppermint, peppermint patties, recipe, unsweetened chocolate, york peppermint patties. Bookmark the permalink.

Red Chocolate Cream Cake

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Ruthanne

This dense chocolate cake is filled with a wonderful cream (think twinkies!) and covered in a rich fudge frosting. Every bite is soooo delicious!

This recipe is a little slice of my past (no pun intended). This is my grandmother’s Red Chocolate Cream Cake. It is the cake I’ve had nearly every birthday of my life. Every time I eat it I remember being a little girl at grandma’s house. It is definitely an old-school recipe. Don’t file this one under “easy”, but it is worth every minute of effort in putting it together. I just love family recipes!

Yep- that’s my cute little six-year-old self with a birthday cake from grandma! Fun memories!

Want to know how to make this? Here we go: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cake

1/4 cup Crisco
1/4 cup salted butter (at room temp)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 unbeaten eggs
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 squares (1 oz. each) of unsweetened baking chocolate (melted and cooled)
1 teaspoon red food coloring
1 teaspooon baking soda
1 Tablespoon vinegar

Cream Filling:

2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup Crisco
1/4 cup salted butter (at room temp)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt

Icing:

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup salted butter (cut into cubes)
1 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Cream shortening and butter together and add sugar. Mix well.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low between each one. Beat until creamy.
Sift flour and salt together.
Add flour/salt, alternating with buttermilk, beating on low speed. Do not over-beat.
Add food coloring and warm (not hot!) melted chocolate. Mix on low speed.
Lastly, in a small cup mix together baking soda and vinegar and add to the batter while foamy.
Mix but do not over-beat.
Divide into two 9-inch pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray and have a circle of parchment paper set in the bottom.
Bake at 350F degrees for 25-30 minutes. Check at 25 by inserting a toothpick. When it comes out clean, cake is finished.
Remove cakes from oven and allow them to set in pans for 5-10 minutes.
Tip cakes out of pans on a cake rack and cool completely.

Filling:

While cake is baking, start to make filling.
In a small saucepan, cook flour and milk together on stove, stirring often until thick and smooth. Cool completely.
Add the rest of ingredients to a mixing bowl and cream together.
Add cooled flour mixture and beat on high until a light whipped cream consistency (about 5 to 8 minutes).
Trim layers of cooled cake and place filling between the two layers.

Icing:

In a saucepan on the stove, heat milk, butter (cut into cubes) and chocolate until completely melted and smooth.
Cool completely. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat on high. Frost top and sides of cake.
Enjoy!!!

Grandma's Red Chocolate Cream Cake!
My thoughts: I have a lot of thoughts… At the front of my mind is this: My grandma Ann is 95 years old and she made this cake well into her late 80’s for us. At age 42 I am barely able to keep track of all these steps…I am very impressed by her baking and multi-tasking abilities!!! Wow.

Ok- other thoughts: This cake tends toward dry. Mine turned out great this time, but sometimes it’s a bit dry. Be meticulous with your measurements and err toward less rather than more with the dry ingredients. I also read that you can add a bit of oil to any cake recipe to moisten it up. Might be worth trying? That said- the flavor of this cake is out of this world- really, no other cake I’ve had tastes like this one. It’s wonderful!

The filling….beat it FOREVER. The biggest mistake I’ve made with this cake over the years is the cream filling. You really do need to beat it for 5-10 minutes. For a girl without a stand mixer this is an ETERNITY of beating filling, but you really have to. It is soooooooooo good. I think I need to double it next time, I like it so much.

The frosting is a glaze-type frosting. It is very soft at first. The best thing to do is to refrigerate about half of it until it is spreadable, frost the tops and sides, and then pour the remaining soft frosting over the top and just smooth it over the whole thing. Eventually all of it hardens into a spectacular smooth fudge icing. You will love it!

I hope you get a chance to try this incredible cake!