Tag Archives: St Patricks Day desserts

Chocolate Chip Mint Pot o’ Gold Cake

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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
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This makes a larger than usual amount of cake batter, since two cakes will be needed to create the "pot" shape. If you are making this cake for another occasion, the batter will be enough for one large Bundt pan and a standard loaf pan.
Ingredients
  • 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
Instructions
  1. 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.)
  2. 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.
  3. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each egg. (Your patience will be rewarded!)
  4. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt two times. Set aside
  5. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, vanilla, and peppermint extract.
  6. 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.
  7. By hand, gently fold in the chopped chocolate and enough green food color to get the color you want.
  8. 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.
  9. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
  10. Clean and prepare the pan and repeat with the remaining batter. Let both cakes cool completely.
  11. 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.)
  12. Combine the milk, coffee, and vanilla and add alternately with powdered sugar, about ⅓ of each at a time. Beat well.
  13. 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.
  14. 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
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. I used green royal icing to add grass and clovers.
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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

 

 

 

 

Mint Chocolate Chip Pie

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If you ask me what my favorite ice cream is, the answer will always be mint chocolate chip. It’s getting harder and harder to find the good stuff though; I’ve turned my nose up at brands with waxy chocolate and too much mint or coloring. It has to be just right!

For a fun twist on my favorite dessert, I created this refreshing Mint Chocolate Chip Pie. It’s soft and fluffy, lightly flavored, and laced with mini chocolate chips. (If you’re a purist you can substitute good quality dark chocolate instead.)

This pie would be wonderful for Christmas – or any time. But since I was making this for St. Patrick’s Day, I melted a few green candy melts, poured the candy into small heart molds, and then connected three of them with a dot of green chocolate and added a stem to create a shamrock. Several of those on top of the pie definitely added an Irish flair!

I’m one of those people who prefer the crust of a pie over the filling. In this case, the filling is delightful . . . but I’m still all about that crust! The thicker the better. This recipe will make two thin crusts, but I like rolling out a crust without worrying about getting the shape perfect, knowing that it will be big enough to cut out a perfect circle. You can make yours thinner if you prefer. Either way, you’ll still have some leftover crust. You could cut out shamrock shapes to decorate your pie, or just bake strips of crust, dusted with cinnamon sugar, for a treat. (C’mon – guilty pleasures are the best!)

Mint Chocolate Chip Pie
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Ingredients
  • CRUST:
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup cold butter
  • ½ cup cold shortening
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon vodka (or vinegar)
  • FILLING:
  • 2 cups (1 pint) heavy whipping cream (divided)
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  • green food color
  • ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup powdered (plus 2 tablespoons) sugar, divided
  • ¼ teaspoon unflavored gelatin (optional, to stabilize the whipping cream)
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. CRUST: In medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut butter into small cubes. Add butter and shortening and use pastry blender or fingers to combine. Mixture should have small lumps of fats visible - no larger than peas.
  2. In a small measuring cup, combine buttermilk and vodka (or vinegar). Add all at once to dry ingredients and toss/stir just until combined.
  3. Place dough on generously floured surface. Sprinkle flour over the top and roll out to a thickness between ⅛-inch and ¼-inch, depending on preference. Place pie pan upside down on dough and cut circle about 1 inch larger all around than the pan.
  4. Slide flat baking sheet or cutting sheet under the dough and flip the pan and dough over. Gently ease the dough into the pan and fold excess over to make the dough come to just above the top edge of the pan. Flute the edge with your fingers. Chill for 30 minutes.
  5. Heat oven to 350 F.
  6. With a fork, poke holes in the sides and bottom of the crust. Carefully line with foil, allowing the foil to cover the top edge of the dough. Fill with pie weights (or beans, rice, or sugar) and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove foil and weights and allow pie to cool completely.
  7. FILLING: in a small saucepan on lowest heat (or in the microwave using 15 second increments) heat ½ cup cream and white chocolate chips until chips are melted.Add a few drops of green food coloring and peppermint extract and stir well. Allow to cool.
  8. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth. Add white chocolate mixture and beat until incorporated. .
  9. In a medium bowl, beat remaining 1½ cups cream until soft peaks form.
  10. In a small cup in the microwave, or a small metal measuring cup or pan on the stove, heat the gelatin and water until gelatin is dissolved (this should happen very quickly...just 5-10 seconds in the microwave) and drizzle over the whipped cream while mixing on high speed. Add 2 tablespoons powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
  11. Fold approximately ⅔ of the whipped cream into the filling, fold in chocolate chips, and spoon into the cooled crust. Pipe or spread the remaining cream onto the top of the pie. Chill for several hours (or overnight) before serving.
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Cut circle of dough larger than pie pan. Slide a flat sheet under dough and flip.

Ease dough into pan and flute. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Line crust with foil and fill with weights, beans, rice, or sugar. Bake.

Filling ingredients

Add green chocolate mixture to the cream cheese mixture.

Fold whipped cream into the filling

Fold in the chocolate chips.

May you have warm words on a cold evening,
a full moon on a dark night,
and the road downhill all the way to your door.

Lorinda

Drunken Leprechaun Balls

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leprechaun balls vertical with boozeYes, you read that correctly; I’m posting a recipe for Leprechaun Balls. There are so many jokes that will be left unsaid…probably.

These green confections are quite (ahem) firm – a cross between fudge and cookies. To make them you will need to bake a batch of green shortbread cookies, but trust me…the cookie recipe is very easy, and the balls are a slam dunk! What more could you ask for this St. Patrick’s Day?

My shortbread recipe makes a little more than you’ll need, so you should end up with 6-8 extra cookies to munch on. I tried rolling the dough out on a cookie sheet and baking it in one piece, which worked pretty well, but it’s harder to get the center of the dough cooked completely that way. So…I recommend you make cookies, even if they’re just squares of dough. You’ll be crushing most of them, so the shape doesn’t matter.

Drunken Leprechaun Balls
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Green shortbread is baked and crushed, then blended with Irish Cream Liqueur and Whiskey for a tasty adult treat. Makes about 36.
Ingredients
  • SHORTBREAD:
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
  • ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • green food coloring
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon milk (if needed)
  • BALLS:
  • 3 cups crushed green shortbread (recipe above)
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 2 tablespoons corn syrup
  • ¼ cup Baileys (or other Irish Cream Liqueur)
  • 2 tablespoons Jameson (or other whiskey)
  • powdered sugar and green sugar for rolling cookies in
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 F.
  2. In a large bowl (use a stand mixer if possible; this is very stiff dough) beat the butter until soft and creamy.
  3. Add powdered sugar and mix well.
  4. Add egg yolk and enough food coloring to create a deep green color, beating until mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl often.
  5. Add dry ingredients. (If using a stand mixer, you may want to switch to your dough hook.) The mixture will be very dry and stiff but should come together into a dough. If it isn't cooperating, add milk a little at a time until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and you can form it into a ball.
  6. Roll dough out to about ¼-inch thick and cut into cookie shapes. (You can also form into small balls and press with a cookie stamp if you prefer. ) Place close together on baking sheets and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes. If you see a tiny bit of brown along the bottom edges, they are done. Don't overbake them, because green cookies turn an unpleasant color if they brown.
  7. Cool cookies on a rack and crush in a bowl until you have 3 cups. Eat the rest!
  8. BALLS:
  9. Combine the crushed cookies, nuts, and powdered sugar in a medium bowl.
  10. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.
  11. Roll scant tablespoons of dough into balls and roll them in a dish of powdered sugar and colored sugar.
  12. Refrigerate until firm. These can be served chilled, which will give them the texture of fudge, or at room temperature, which will make them a little softer.
  13. I'm sure you know this, but just for the record: DO NOT SERVE TO MINORS.
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Combine dry ingredients, then stir in wet ingredients.

Combine dry ingredients, then stir in wet ingredients.

Roll the balls gently in your palms, then dust with sugar.

Roll the balls gently in your palms, then dust with sugar.

leprechaun balls vertical
By all means, improvise. Use walnuts instead of pecans, switch the booze around and use 1/4 cup of whiskey and 2 tablespoons of Irish cream (you may have to add a little more crushed cookie in this case), or roll them in coconut or sprinkles. Pop Rocks? Hmmmm.

Enjoy! And…hello? Keep ’em out of the reach of kiddies, of course.
Lorinda

For each petal on the shamrock this brings a wish your way. Good health, good luck, and happiness for today and every day. (Irish Blessing)