Description
A festive and rich Chocolate Peppermint Cake featuring moist cocoa layers paired with a smooth Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream, decorated with crushed candy canes and piped red and white frosting for a holiday treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Chocolate Peppermint Cake:
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 3/4 cup hot water or hot coffee
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp peppermint extract (optional)
Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 cup granulated sugar, lightly packed
- 2 cups unsalted butter, cubed, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp peppermint extract or more to taste
- Bright white color gel
- 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
- Red color gel
Assembly:
- 1/2 cup crushed candy canes plus more for outside of cake
- Candy cane sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare pans: Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease three 6-inch round baking pans, dust them with cocoa powder, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Mix dry ingredients: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine all dry ingredients and stir until well blended.
- Whisk wet ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients, adding the hot water or coffee slowly to avoid cooking the eggs if it is very hot.
- Combine batter: Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. The batter will be very thin.
- Distribute batter and bake: Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans using a kitchen scale if available for accuracy. Bake for 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out mostly clean.
- Cool cakes: Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove and place on wire racks to cool completely.
- Prepare Swiss meringue: Combine egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer bowl. Place the bowl over a hot water bath and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot to the touch (about 3 minutes) or reaches 160F on a candy thermometer.
- Whip meringue: Transfer bowl to the stand mixer and whisk on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the bowl is no longer warm (about 5-10 minutes).
- Add butter to meringue: Switch to the paddle attachment and add the cubed butter slowly while mixing until the mixture becomes smooth.
- Flavor and color buttercream: Add vanilla and peppermint extract, mixing until smooth. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of buttercream, add powdered sugar and red color gel to create the red frosting. Use bright white color gel to whiten the remaining buttercream if desired.
- Assemble cake layers: Place one cake layer on a serving plate or stand. Spread about 2/3 cup buttercream over it, sprinkle with 1/4 cup crushed candy canes, and repeat for remaining layers.
- Crumb coat and chill: Apply a thin crumb coat over the assembled cake and smooth the sides. Chill the cake for 20 minutes.
- Final frosting and smoothing: Generously frost the outside of the cake, smooth with an icing smoother, and use a cake comb on sides repeating to achieve a smooth finish.
- Decorate cake: Pipe dollops of red buttercream on top using a 1M piping tip, then pipe smaller white frosting dollops between them with a 4B tip. Decorate the bottom edge with crushed candy canes and sprinkles as desired.
Notes
- Ensure no egg yolks are present in the egg whites and that all equipment used for meringue is completely grease-free to achieve stiff peaks.
- If the buttercream looks curdled during mixing, continue mixing until it becomes smooth and creamy.
- Use hot coffee instead of water to enhance the chocolate flavor in the cake if desired.
- Bright white color gel helps neutralize the natural yellow tint in the buttercream for a cleaner white finish.
- Using a kitchen scale to evenly distribute batter ensures uniform cake layers which results in a balanced assembly.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 450 kcal
- Sugar: 40 g
- Sodium: 280 mg
- Fat: 28 g
- Saturated Fat: 16 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 80 mg
