Oh, the holidays! This time of year means parties and festivities galore, which means more opportunities for me to experiment baking...At Home. As an edible gift for my coworkers, I made mini Chocolate Mint Fudge Cake and packaged them up individually for each person. The chocolate and mint combination with dark chocolate fudge made a Thin Mint-brownie creation that was such a hit with everyone. Chocolate Mint Fudge Cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teasp baking soda
- ½ teasp salt
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups sugar
- 1¼ cups water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teasp peppermint extract
- green sugar sprinkles, optional
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, sugar in the bowl of a mixer and whisk together.
- Blend in the water, oil, eggs, and peppermint extract on slow for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes.
- Pour into a cake pan (I used mini bundt pan-sized baking cups), about 2/3 full.
- Sprinkle the tops with the green sugar.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
The recipe above is for a standard 9-inch round cake, but I tripled it to make nine mini loafs to hand out. I made just enough for the nine, and did not have any leftover for me to sample. I know in the chef world, that is sacrelig! One must always taste ones food, especially before serving. Alas, I figured I can't go wrong with chocolate, and luckily everyone seemed genuinely excited to try it. I think it also helped that I packaged them up so professionally. (Not pictured, but I put each loaf in a plastic bag sealed with a twist-tie, and then added a cute label on top.) One person opened it up right away and cut into it for a bite. Thumbs up all around! #success
