I realize mint isn’t necessarily the first thing you think of when St. Patrick’s Day comes to mind, but mint is green and I had this on my list of things to bake so we’re going with it.

This cake is pretty easy to make, especially since you’re only making one layer. I was a little worried about the olive oil in the cake, just because sometimes it can make a cake taste a little weird; but I didn’t notice it once everything was together. I ran out of dutch process cocoa so I think about 1/4 of my cocoa was actually black dutch cocoa (hence the dark color). I actually ended up making the cake first, then had some stuff happen and I realized I wasn’t going to be able to finish the cake so I wrapped it up tightly and popped it in the freezer.

I let the cake thaw overnight when I was finally ready to finish this and the rest of this process was just as simple. The peppermint cream was easy; though I was a little worried about the mint in the peppermint cream as I don’t normally add chopped herbs to my buttercream. However, you didn’t notice it as much when it was part of the whole cake (as opposed to the little bit I ate by itself from the bowl…). I will say that I think you got more flavor from the peppermint extract so I would probably just leave out the fresh herbs in the peppermint cream and just use it as a garnish.

You’ll want to pop this in the fridge so it sets up a little more and then you’ll make the ganache. I went ahead and made the full recipe for the ganache even though the recipe says it’ll make a lot because I knew we could just use it on ice cream or something. You’ll want to let the ganache sit a little so it thickens enough to be pourable, without just sliding right off the cake. While it’s not as stunning as the Mirror Glaze Dark Chocolate Cheesecake I made last year, it reminded me a lot of it and was VERY delicious.

It’s very rich so a little goes a long way but I liked this cake a lot and it wasn’t too difficult. I loved the flavors here and while peppermint can be overpowering, the ratio here was perfect. I will for sure make this again!

Baking Ease	10
Time Spent	9
Taste	10
Visual	10

Recipe Used: Sally’s Baking Addiction