Mint chocolate cake recipe

This mint chocolate cake draped in rich dark chocolate ganache is brilliant for chocoholics, but with a fabulously minty twist. 

All the mint flavour in this recipe comes from real mint leaves, rather than anything out of a bottle. These makes the taste really light and fresh - a perfect contrast to the deep, dark chocolatiness. Try to use larger, mature mint leaves that have had time to really develop their flavour, though the smaller ones are useful for decorating with. This cake cuts into 12 good-sized portions and it's lovely with an afternoon coffee - or a mint tea. You can leave the topping plain so the minty flavour is a surprise, or decorate the cake with leaves to make it even prettier.

Ingredients

• 250g (8oz) caster sugar
• 3 tbsp (10g) chopped fresh mint leaves
• 125g (4oz) butter, softened
• 2 medium eggs
• 250g (8oz) self-raising flour
• 60g (2oz) cocoa powder, sifted

For the icing:

• 300ml (½ pint) double cream
• 10g mint leaves, plus extra for decoration
• 200g bar dark chocolate, roughly broken into pieces

Method

1. To make the chocolate cake: Set the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Base-line and butter 2 x 20cm (8in) sandwich tins.
2. Put 1 tbsp of the sugar into a small bowl with the mint and pound together until the sugar is green. Cream the butter with the minty sugar and the remaining sugar, add the eggs, one at a time, with a little flour, beating well. 
3. Fold in the rest of the flour sifted with the cocoa. Add 125ml (4fl oz) warm water. Mix until smooth, and divide between the tins. Bake for 25 mins. Cool on a wire rack.
4. To make the icing: Put the cream in a pan with the bruised mint leaves. Bring to the boil slowly, then take off the heat and leave to infuse for at least 30 mins. 
5. Reheat the cream, then strain it over the chocolate pieces in a large bowl and stir gently until the chocolate melts and the icing is smooth. Leave for 5-10 mins, to cool. 
6. Use a generous 3 tbsp to sandwich the cakes together, spread the rest over the top and ease it down the sides. Leave to set. Decorate with mint leaves.  

Tips for making mint chocolate cake:

Top your icing with sugar mint leaves. To make them, brush small mint leaves with lightly beaten egg white and then sprinkle with caster sugar. Leave on paper or a rack to dry for one hour before adding to the cake.

Can I use mint extract instead of fresh mint in this mint chocolate cake?

Yes, simply replace the mint leaves with 3-4 drops of peppermint extract. The flavour will not be as fresh but it will still be minty and delicious. You can also used dried mint (use about a third of the amount) but make sure the dried herbs are not too old as dried mint looses its flavour over time.

Why did my cake not rise properly?

Often this can be because you did not preheat the oven, or you did not get the cake into the oven quickly enough after adding it to the pan. Do not leave the batter sitting in the can tin - get it into the oven as soon as possible.

You might also like...

• Mary Berry’s chocolate cake (opens in new tab)
• Nadiya Hussain's mint Oreo cheesecake (opens in new tab)
• Chocolate chip cake (opens in new tab)