Thursday, November 17, 2011

Andes Mint Chocolate Cake with Ganache

I am very excited to share this Andes Mint Chocolate Cake with you today!
It is SO delicious!

My daughter even declared this one of her top 5 favorite cakes!
That is pretty impressive, considering how many cakes I have made.


Moist chocolate cake full of chopped Andes mints,
layered with mint buttercream frosting
and covered with chocolate ganache.

Oh, YEAH!!!


Andes Mint Chocolate Cake
by Bird On A Cake
Ingredients
Andes Mint Chocolate Cake
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chopped Andes Mints
Mint Buttercream Frosting
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 6 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • green food coloring
  • 1/2 cup milk (may use less)
Chocolate Ganache
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Andes Mint Chocolate Cake
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottoms of three 8 inch cake pans with wax paper and grease the sides. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil and keep it simmering while you mix the other ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer until combined.
Add 1 cup of the boiling water and carefully stir until it is mixed in. Beat for 1 1/2 minutes with mixer. Place the chopped Andes Mints in a ziploc bag with a tablespoon of flour. Shake until the Andes Mints are coated, then fold them into the batter. Pour the batter into prepared pans. Bake for 20-23 minutes (until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean).

Mint Buttercream Frosting
In a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar a few cups at a time and mix well. Mix in vanilla, peppermint and food coloring. Gradually add milk until you reach the desired consistency. Keep covered.

Chocolate Ganache
Place the chocolate chips in a small metal bowl. Heat cream over medium heat. Watch it closely and immediately remove from heat when it starts to boil. Pour over chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 or 2 minutes, then slowly stir the mixture. Continue to stir until all the chips have completely melted. Stir in the vanilla.

Allow the ganache to cool and thicken before you use it. Let it sit at room temperature for a couple hours, or put in the refrigerator if you want to speed things up. Start pouring the ganache over the center of your cake, and slowly move outward in circles. Cover unused portion and store refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
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Please go make this cake! You will thank me. Your family will thank me. :0)

Enjoy!

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Friday, November 11, 2011

Autumn Leaves Cake

Yes, I realize that the stores are full of Christmas stuff.
There was Christmas music playing as I did my grocery shopping yesterday.
 But I'm not giving in!

My Christmas decorations are not coming out until after Thanksgiving.
And today I made this autumn leaves cake in lots of yummy fall colors...


Here is how you make the leaves:
First, put several colors of candy melts in piping bags.
I used Wilton decorating tip #3.


Make a leaf template (or print this one). I found a leaves coloring page online, and my graphic designer hubby removed the stems and sized them for me.


Tape your template on to a piece of cardboard or the back of a cookie sheet.
Tape wax paper on top of the template.
Pipe the outline of each leaf on the wax paper.


Then go back and fill in each leaf with a contrasting color.
Pop them in the fridge so they can set up.


Carefully peel the wax paper off the leaves (they are a bit delicate) and arrange them on your cake. Then you could take your lovely cake outside for a photo shoot...




Happy Autumn!

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Tidy Mom

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

It is time to celebrate my favorite furry, blue monster.
November 2nd is Cookie Monster's Birthday!


You may wonder how I came to know this little nugget of information.
I do love to celebrate birthdays, and I am pretty good at remembering dates.
But, Sesame Street characters?
Let me show you something...


My daughter has written the birthdays of ALL the Sesame Street characters on my calendar.
(We now know that my oldest daughter shares her birthday with Ernie.)

This calls for some Cookie Monster Cupcakes!



What you will need to make them:


  • Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies (they are the perfect size!)
  • White Candy Melts
  • Blue buttercream frosting in a piping bag
  • Wilton #233 decorating tip
  • Chocolate chips
  • A batch of your favorite cupcakes


First, cut out a mouth for Cookie Monster.
Eat the cupcake scraps.


Place a cookie in the mouth.
Pipe frosting fur all over the cupcake.


Melt a few candy melts. Put a dab on the back of a chocolate chip, and stick it on the flat side of a candy melt. Put a dollop of frosting on the backs of 2 candy melts, and give Cookie Monster some eyes.


  Om, nom, nom, nom!!
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