This chocolate mint cake is a layered cake that tastes just chocolate chip mint ice cream! This is a moist layered chocolate cake. It is filled with chopped Andes mints and topped with chocolate chip mint frosting. You have to make it!
The chocolate chip mint frosting is honestly the best part of this chocolate mint cake. It taste just like the ice cream. I could just eat the frosting from a spoon!
I originally decided to make this cake because I grew up loving the chocolate mint ice cream, and that is why this mint chocolate chip cake tastes just like it!
If you are looking for more chocolate cake recipes, try Moist Triple Chocolate Cake, Layered Blueberry Chocolate Cake, and Mini Chocolate Cake.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Chocolate cake- The chocolate cake layers are super soft and moist. It is made with no mixer and can be in the oven in 10 minutes!
- Chocolate chip mint frosting- The frosting is so incredible! It uses a half cup of heavy cream that gets beaten it to give it a super fluffy and creamy texture.
- Andes mints- There are chopped Andes mints in the filling and as decoration on top.
Ingredient Notes
- Dutch process cocoa powder- This is the cocoa powder I use. Using a dutch process cocoa powder gives the cake a more rich taste. If you use a natural cocoa powder, that is okay it will just won't be as rich.
- Oil- You can canola oil, vegetable oil, and olive oil. I don't recommend coconut oil.
- Eggs- Pull this out 2 hours before baking.
- Buttermilk- Pull this out 2 hours before baking. Buttermilk is the best for this recipe. In a pinch, you can do 1 ¼ cup whole milk and 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice. Let it sit for 10 minutes before using.
- Hot water- It needs to be steaming before adding. You can use hot coffee too.
- Unsalted butter- To get slightly cold butter, let it sit for 30 minutes on the counter. This helps to get a fluffy frosting that holds up well when piping.
- Powdered sugar- Make sure to sift this before using. This will prevent a gritty frosting.
- Peppermint extract- I got this at my grocery store. Use exactly 1 teaspoon. Any more then the frosting.
- Andes mints- I used 2 packages of mints.
Can I use Girl Scout Thin Mints?
You absolutely can! You can use Andes mints or Thin mint cookie for the filling. You can also go crazy and use both as the filling!
Step By Step Instructions
Here is how to make and bake this moist chocolate cake.
STEP 1: Mix the dry ingredients. First, sift the all-purpose flour and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl. Then, add in the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
STEP 2: Mix the wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Then, add in the hot water.
STEP 3: Bake the cake. Next, pour the cake batter between three 8-inch cake pans. Bake for 24-27 minutes.
STEP 4: Chocolate chip mint buttercream. Using a mixer, beat the butter on high. Add in the powdered sugar. It will for a thick frosting.
Next, add in peppermint, vanilla, salt, and heavy cream. Beat on high to get a fluffy frosting.
STEP 5: Dye the frosting. To give the frosting a traditional mint look, you will need blue food coloring, green food coloring, and brown food coloring. I recommend gel food dye.
Start by adding two drop of green dye, mix and it will look bright green. Now, add in 1 drop of blue and mix. This will give it a bright neon mint look.
To dull down the color, add a tiny amount of brown.
STEP 6: Add the chocolate. Chop the chocolate into very small pieces. Discard any dust from the chocolate, otherwise it could make your frosting look more chocolaty versus mint.
Assembling The Cake Tips
- First, prep the frosting and filling before you start decorating. This helps me a ton!
- If the cakes have a dome, then use a serrated knife to make an even cake layer.
- Freeze the cake, so it is cold before using. This decreases the crumbs.
- Use 1 cup of frosting for the filling for each cake layer. Pipe a border around the edge of the cake to keep the mints inside.
- If you are getting too many crumbs into the frosting as you are decorating. Then, apply a very light layer of frosting around the sides of the cake and freeze for 15 minutes. This will lock the cake crumbs in place.
- Frosting the cake. I find it is easiest to place a ton of frosting on the top of the cake. Then, smooth the frosting down the top of the cake to the sides. Use a cake scrapper.
Decorating the Cake
To get this swirled look, I used a simple offset spatula and a cake turntable. With a light touch, place the spatula at the bottom of the cake.
Spin the turn table, as it spins raise the spatula to the top of the cake. This will give you the swirled cake look.
Then, I choose to top with the mints. I thought about trying to pipe extra frosting on top using a piping bag, but the chocolate pieces clogged up the piping tip.
FAQ
Yes you can! Half the recipe and it will make 12 cupcakes. Bake for 18 minutes.
This recipe can be made into a 13X9 inch cake pan for a sheet cake. If you half the recipe, you can use an 8X8 or 9X9 pan. Everything can be baked for the same amount of time.
Yes you can! Freeze the cooled cake layers and wrap in plastic wrap and freeze up to 30 days. Pull it out for 1 hour before decorating. The frosting is best made fresh.
Storing and Freezing
Store this mint chocolate chip layer cake in a cake carrier or airtight container in the fridge. Store up to 5 days.
The cake taste great even cold! For best results though, let the cake come to room temperature for 1 hour before eating.
Freezing
The chocolate chip mint cake can be frozen in individual cake slices. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze up to 30 days.
Thaw for 1 hour before eating.
Other Cake Recipes To Try
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Make sure to tag me on Instagram @stephaniesweettreats. I hope you loved it! To get more ideas follow me on Pinterest.
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Mint Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 ½ cups All-purpose flour
- 1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 ¾ cup White granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ¾ cup Oil canola or vegetable
- 2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- 4 Large eggs room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup Buttermilk room temperature
- 1 cup Hot water
Chocolate Chip Mint Frosting
- 2 ½ cups Unsalted butter slightly cold
- 7 ½ cups Powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Heavy cream
- Food dye blue, green, brown
- 4 oz Semisweet chocolate bar chopped small pieces. I used Lindt 70%.
- 2 Packages of Andes Mints 40 of the bars will be for the filling, the rest for decoration.
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray three 8-inch cake pans with baking nonstick spray. Line the bottom of the pan with 8-inch parchment circles. Spray again.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and cocoa powder. Whisk in the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.2 ½ cups All-purpose flour, 1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder, 1 ¾ cup White granulated sugar, 2 ½ teaspoon Baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoon Baking soda, 1 teaspoon Salt
- Start heating the water on the stove until steaming. In a separate bowl, mix oil, vanilla, buttermilk, and eggs together. Slowly whisk in the hot water.¾ cup Oil, 2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract, 4 Large eggs, 1 ¼ cup Buttermilk, 1 cup Hot water
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix until just combined.
- Pour the cake batter evenly amount the three cake pans. Bake for 24-27 minutes. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs or clean.
- Let the cakes sit in the hot pans for 10 minutes. Then, transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Chip Mint Frosting
- Let the butter sit on the counter for 30 minutes to get slightly cold. Sift the powdered sugar. Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Discard any dust from chopping the chocolate. See picture to see how big the chocolate pieces should be.2 ½ cups Unsalted butter, 7 ½ cups Powdered sugar, 4 oz Semisweet chocolate bar
- Using a mixer, beat the butter on high for 3 minutes. It will be super fluffy. Slowly add in the powdered sugar. It will be very thick.
- Add in the mint extract, vanilla extract, salt, and heavy cream. Beat on low until combined. Then, beat on high for 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl halfway through. It should be very fluffy.1 teaspoon Peppermint extract, 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon Salt, ½ cup Heavy cream
- Add in 2 drops of green and beat the frosting on high until combined. Add in one drop of blue and beat on high. Scrape the bowl and beat until it is all combined. To make the color not as brightly green, add a very very small drop of brown. Then, mix again.Food dye
- Take off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to fold the chocolate chip bits into the frosting.
Assembly
- Place the cake layers in the freezer for 15 minutes to get cold. If the cakes have a dome, use a serrated knife to make the cakes even. While the cakes are in the freezer, chop 40 of the Andes mints. It will equal to 1 cup.2 Packages of Andes Mints
- Place a small amount of frosting on the board you are decorating on. This will lock the cake in place.
- Place the 1st layer of cake down. Use 1 cup of frosting and use an offset spatula to smooth it evenly on the cake. Place frosting in a piping and cut off the tip. Pipe a border around the edges of the cake. Sprinkle half of the chopped mints on top of the frosting.
- Place the second layer of cake down and repeat. Place the last layer of cake upside down (the bottom of the cake is facing up). This will give the flattest layer possible for the top of the cake.
- Frost the cake. If the cake is getting crumbs into the frosting, frost the cake in a light layer and freeze for 15 minutes. Then, frost the rest of the cake.
- To get the swirl look, use an offset spatula and a turntable. Light press on the cake with the spatula and spin it. The goal is make it swirl and go up as you spin the cake.
- Top the cake with extra chopped Andes mints. *optional
Julia says
Hi Stephanie, thank you for the mint chocolate cake recipe. The chocolate cake was easy to make and moist and delicious, and the chocolate mint pieces made it even more delicious. I made it for my young brother's birthday cake, we all loved the cake. I will continue using your chocolate cake recipe with different fillings. 🙂 From South Africa.
Keira says
Great recipe! Cakes turned out super well and moist. The frosting was so fun and worked great and it was not too minty! Perfect balance of mint and chocolate.
Crista says
My daughter requested a chocolate mint cake for her birthday and this recipe was a hit! Her favorite color is aquamarine, so I used more blue than green to color the frosting. A note for me/anyone else for next time, is to set aside some "chip-free" frosting for decorating. I thought that the chocolate pieces would be small enough to flow through my decorating tips and was mistaken. I was still able to do some simple shells just nothing more elaborate.
Jana says
Love it!!!😍 Looks so awesome. Love this green.💚 Very delicious!
Greetings from Germany ❤️
Toni says
The cake itself is a beauty! Made it to celebrate 2 birthdays and it was perfect for St. Patrick’s day. The chocolate cake is delicious. The frosting was just too much for all of us. You know how people eat the cake and leave the frosting - that’s what we did too. This cake takes a lot of prep with chopping the chocolate bar and two boxes of Andes mints. Oh and don’t forget to make room in your freezer for 3 cakes! I will for sure use the cake recipe for cupcakes.
Jacqui says
Hello! How can you turn these into cupcakes, if possible?
Thank you!
Stephanie Rutherford says
Yes you can! Half the recipe and it will make 12 cupcakes. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Allison says
Delicious and fun to eat!!
Donna says
This cake is seriously sooo good!