A couple of cool things to announce before launching into the cake-fest.
Firstly, this Butterfly Cookie post launched the start of a fundraising initiative for Australia’s Depression organisation, Beyond Blue. For the month of October, I pledged to donate $1 for every comment received on The Cake Mistress site and the . I am pleased to say that together we raised $188, which I’m just going to round up to $200! Thank you for taking the time to say hello and writing a note or two. Your support means a lot to me.
Secondly, because i’m an online ordering klutz I ended up with an extra copy of Frankie’s Sweet Treats recipe book and their 2011 Diary, which I wanted to giveaway to two of you. Entries are now closed and the winners have been notified via email, so check your inboxes! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Gosh, I feel like the present fairy now.
And thirdly, and most deliciously, let’s talk cake.
A chocolate cake with an addictive and creamy mint frosting, infused with real peppermint tea leaves. A cake inspired by my all time favourite red velvet cake recipe, minus the crazy red food colouring. I developed this chocolate mint cake for a project I was lucky to participate in. And it’s pretty great, even if I do say so myself 
What you get is a mild chocolatey cake that leaves a fresh mint feel in your mouth. It’s all thanks to the peppermint tea leaves that infuse in warm milk for 30 minutes, then get added whole into the cake batter. And the creamcheese frosting with mint essence is a revelation! I seriously had my doubts, but it’s like a creamy mint pattie. Serve with a lovely pot of peppermint tea, of course.
This recipe makes a cake that isn’t terribly high, so if you are wanting to bake an impressive looking cake, my recommendation is to double the ingredients. You could make two separate cakes and sandwich them together with extra mint frosting if you desire.
CHOCOLATE MINT VELVET CAKE
Cake:
60 g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
150 g Caster Sugar
2 Peppermint tea bags
80ml Full-cream milk
1 Large Egg
10 g Cocoa Powder
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoon Peppermint Essence
120 ml Buttermilk
150 g Plain flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Bicarb Soda
1 1/2 teaspoon White wine Vinegar
Creamy Mint Frosting:
300g Icing Sugar
60g Unsalted butter, room temperature
125g Cream Cheese, softened
¼ teaspoon Peppermint Essence, or more according to personal taste.
DIRECTIONS
Infuse the milk with mint: split open the two teabags and pour the contents into a small saucepan with the milk. Simmer for at least 10 minutes (30 minutes is best). It’s fine if some the milk evaporates. Keep the softened tea leaves and remaining milk.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Grease and line a 23cm cake tin.
Beat the butter and sugar in a small bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and continue beating. Scoop in the tea leaves and add the peppermint essence, tea milk, sifted cocoa powder and vanilla, beating until just combined.
On slow speed, mix in half the buttermilk and half of the flour. When fully incorporated, beat in the remaining buttermilk and flour until smooth. Add the salt, bicarb and vinegar and beat on high speed for two minutes.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top of the cake bounces back with touch and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave cake to cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the frosting, beat the soft butter and icing sugar together until sandy. Add the softened cream cheese and peppermint and beat for five minutes at least, until a fluffy frosting forms. It will look really firm and dry at first, but trust me, it beats up really well with time. Spread frosting onto the cooled cake.
