Anyone would do a jig for a slice of this Chocolate Chip Mint Pot o’ Gold Cake! Light green, with delicate mint flavor and dark chocolate speckles, it’s ideal for your St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Dark, fudgy chocolate frosting and a generous mound of chocolate gold coins will turn this sweet dessert into a leprechaun’s treasure. The first slice can be neatly plated, but when you cut the second slice, all of the coins and candy in the middle will come tumbling out. The kids will love this!
My recipe actually makes two Bundt cakes, which are later placed together to create a rounded “pot” shape. While one is baking, the remaining batter rests happily in the fridge (unless you happen to have TWO Bundt pans and can bake them together).
I chose a thick frosting to fill in the designs made by the Bundt pan. The frosting hardens fairly quickly, but can be encouraged to spread with a few drops of milk or coffee if necessary. Don’t worry about making it perfectly smooth; once the cake is iced you’ll be able to gently pat with your hands (yes, gloves are a good idea if you’re baking this for others) to remove rough spots.
By the way, I know most people would call this “mint chocolate chip”, but wouldn’t that mean that the chocolate chips were mint flavored? We always called the ice cream (my favorite, by the way) “chocolate chip mint”. I caved in and went with the majority when I posted my Mint Chocolate Chip Pie, but not this time. Nope. I take my chocolate chip mint seriously!
Hints:
- Quality peppermint extract matters! Mine was old and smelled kind of funky, so I ordered some from Nielsen-Massey. What a difference! You know I don’t have advertising on this blog, so there’s nothing in this for me, but I was really impressed with the bright flavor.
- Frequent scraping of the bowl while mixing is very important. Scrape the beaters once in a while too so there are no clumps of butter in your batter.
- Try not to open the oven door while the cake is baking.
- Let your eggs and butter come to room temperature before mixing. And don’t rush the process. Each egg needs to get thoroughly beaten into the batter.
- Order the chocolate coins online. Buying the little bags would be awfully expensive! I got mine on Amazon for a reasonable price.
Good stuff!
| Chocolate Chip Mint Pot o' Gold Cake | Print |
- CAKE:
- 2 cups (4 sticks) salted butter, room temperature (If using unsalted, add ½ teaspoon salt to dry ingredients)
- 3 cups sugar
- 8 large eggs, room temperature
- 4½ cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract (more if desired)
- green food coloring
- 3.5 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
- FROSTING:
- 1 cup salted butter
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 1¼ cups dark cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
- ⅓ cup milk (a little more if needed to thin frosting as you work with it)
- ¼ cup strong coffee
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- CAKE: Heat oven to 325 F. with the rack in the middle of the oven. Use a flour/oil spray (like Baker's Joy) to coat the inside of a large Bundt pan. (Or grease and flour the inside, taking care to get in all the nooks and crannies.)
- In a large bowl (a sturdy stand mixer is highly recommended) beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat 3-4 minutes, until very light, scraping the bowl occasionally.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each egg. (Your patience will be rewarded!)
- Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt two times. Set aside
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, vanilla, and peppermint extract.
- Beginning with the dry ingredients and ending with the wet, alternately add ⅓ of each, mixing on low speed after each addition, just until incorporated.
- By hand, gently fold in the chopped chocolate and enough green food color to get the color you want.
- Spoon half of the mixture evenly into the prepared Bundt pan (about 5½ cups), refrigerating the other half. Smooth the top and bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until the top edge is browned and a toothpick or skewer comes out clean when inserted in the cake.
- Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
- Clean and prepare the pan and repeat with the remaining batter. Let both cakes cool completely.
- FROSTING: In a small pan, melt butter and unsweetened chocolate on lowest heat—or use a microwave. Stir in cocoa and transfer to a large bowl. (Again, a stand mixer is very helpful.)
- Combine the milk, coffee, and vanilla and add alternately with powdered sugar, about ⅓ of each at a time. Beat well.
- ASSEMBLY: The frosting will thicken fairly quickly; be prepared to add a little more liquid (milk or coffee) if needed. Place one cake, with the large flat side up, on serving plate. Cover with frosting and place the second cake, large flat side down, on top to create a round shape.
- Frost your way around the cake, leaving the cavity and the area around it unfrosted. (You can frost the whole top, but the coins will stick.) Make it as smooth as possible, Save enough frosting to make a "rim" around the top
- Once the entire cake is frosted, press gently on an area with your finger. If it sticks to your finger, wait a little longer. Once the frosting has firmed up, use your warm hands (wear gloves if you wish) to press and smooth all around the cake.
- Use a large round icing tip to pipe a rim around the top of the cake, then fill the center and top with gold coins.
- I used green royal icing to add grass and clovers.
Cream the butter and sugar like you mean it! 3-4 minutes. It should be very fluffy.
Beat the eggs in, one by one. Take your time! See how yellow and light the batter is? Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients . . .
Then add one third of the liquids. Repeat dry ingredients, liquids, dry ingredients, liquids. Don’t overstir – just until combined.
Gently fold in green food coloring and chopped chocolate.
Spoon half of the batter into prepared Bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake!
Once cakes are completely cool, start the frosting. Melt chocolate and butter on low heat (or use microwave).
Stir the cocoa into the butter mixture. It doesn’t have to be smooth – it just keeps you from getting a face-full of powdered cocoa when you start up the mixer.
Alternately add the powdered sugar and the liquids. Beat well.
Put the two flat sides together with frosting
I didn’t frost in the cavity or around it so the coins would cascade out when cut. And one pound of coins fell a little short, so I filled the void with a few chocolate mint candies.
These things, I warmly wish for you-
Someone to love, some work to do,
A bit of o’ sun, a bit o’ cheer.
And a guardian angel always near.
Lorinda