Chocolate Mint Holiday Cake

This beautiful Chocolate Mint Holiday Cake is a fantastic treat to serve special friends and guests at your Holiday gathering. You will find it to be sinfully moist from using quality olive oil.  The Chocolate Mint Holiday Cake flavored with Andes chocolate Mints uses a near perfect Buttercream glaze and is simply but elegantly decorated with chocolate-mint leaves and pomegranate seeds to give it a glorious Holiday look.

One of my favorite things to do during the Holidays is entertaining friends and family members that stop by for a quick visit, I find simple and natural ingredients usually work best for decorating my holiday cakes and try to keep fresh chocolate mint, pomegranates or other fresh ingredients handy for such occasions.

Andes Mints are also another ingredient that I also enjoy using during the holidays, they just lend a clean and classic mint taste to baked goods during the winter holidays–and of course, I enjoy eating some of the extra Andes Mints that I did not require.

Below you will find a super moist and delicious recipe for one of my favorite Holiday Treats to make… However, if time is of the essence this Holiday Season, by all means, you can always use your favorite boxed cake mix, add olive oil, Andes Mints and use my decorating idea to make a quick and easy version of my recipe.

Chocolate Mint Holiday Cake

• 1 and 1/2 cups of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 3 cups of fine granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon of baking soda
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoons of Kosher salt
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 cups of buttermilk
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 3 large room temperature eggs, beaten
• 1 and 1/2 cups of hot water
• 15- 20 Andes Chocolate Mints, finely chopped
• Buttercream Glaze (recipe below)
• pomegranate seeds
• several smaller mint leaves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly spray your favorite bundt pan with cooking spray  (you may use a bit of powdered cocoa to dust if desired.)
3. Sift 1 and 1/2 cups of unsweetened cocoa, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 3 cups of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of baking soda,1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, and kosher salt into a bowl. Beat in 3/4 of a cup olive oil, 1 and 1/2 cups of buttermilk, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 3 room temperature eggs lightly beaten, and hot water. Using a mixer set to low speed, beat ingredients until smooth (approximately 2 minutes.)
4. Add 15-20 finely chopped Andes Chocolate Mints and gently fold into cake batter.
5. Pour the chocolate cake batter into your favorite nonstick bundt pan.
6. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean remove cake from the oven and place on heat safe area to cool.
7. Once completely cool remove from bundt pan.

Near Perfect Buttercream Glaze

• 1 stick of sweet cream unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 4 and 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1-1/4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 4-5 tablespoons of half and half cream
• 1/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt

Directions

1. In a large glass bowl beat butter until soft and creamy, then beat in the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla extract, and enough 4-5 tablespoons one at a time to achieve desired the consistency.
2. Place glass dish in microwave and heat for 30-45  seconds on normal power and stir (it should be thick still –but able to be spoon drizzled over bundt cake to flow down the sides)

Assembly of cake 

Place cake on your favorite Holiday Cake dish, drizzle Near perfect Buttercream Glaze carefully over cake and let it flow down the sides of your bundt cake, place smaller chocolate mint leaves on 4 various areas of cake in small bunches, place pomegranate seeds in a design with leaves. Sprinkle some of the excess pomegranate seeds around the cake to increase the festivity of the cake.