Easy Chocolate Peppermint Loaf Cake Recipe 42

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan; line bottom with parchment or waxed paper. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.
• In a medium saucepan, bring 2 inches water to a boil. Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl; set over (not in) water. Turn off heat; let stand until melted, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir to combine. Remove bowl; cool 5 minutes.
• Whisk in sugar and vanilla, then eggs and buttermilk until combined. Fold in flour mixture until combined.
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until cake pulls away from sides and a toothpick inserted in center has a few moist crumbs clinging to it, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert onto a wire rack (and leave inverted) to cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Set cake on a serving platter. Tuck parchment or waxed paper under sides of cake. Pour chocolate icing onto center of cake and spread evenly over top and sides. Let set, about 40 minutes. Serve cake with whipped cream and chocolate shavings or peppermint candies, if desired.

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla; beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. , Bake at 350° for 18-23 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , For filling, beat cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, vanilla and food coloring if desired; beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside about 1 tablespoon crushed candy. Fold remaining candy into cream mixture. Spread between layers and around sides but not over the top. , For glaze, melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add cocoa and water; cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat; whisk in vanilla. Gradually blend in sugar until smooth. Add additional water if necessary. Spread over top of cake. Sprinkle with reserved candy. Chill before serving. Store in the refrigerator.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the base and sides of a 22cm square tin. Melt 85g butter and 50g chocolate together in a small pan. Mix 120g flour, 140g sugar, 3 tbsp of the cocoa and ½ tsp bicarbonate in a bowl.
• Whisk together 1 egg with half the buttermilk (about 140ml). Scrape the melted chocolate mixture and egg mixture into the dry ingredients, along with 100ml boiling water. Whizz briefly with an electric whisk until lump-free. Scrape into the tin and bake for 18-20 mins until a skewer comes out clean.
• Cool the cake in the tin for 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling while you repeat steps 1 and 2 to make a second cake. Cool both completely.
• To make the icing, melt the After Eights and cream together in a saucepan. Cool, then chill until spreadable.
• Trim the cake edges, then halve to make 4 rectangles. Use half of the icing to sandwich the layers together, then spread the rest over the top and sides. Chill.
• Knead some colouring into the ready-to-roll icing with the peppermint extract. Roll out on an icing sugar dusted surface, then lift over to cover the cake, smoothing with your hands. Trim excess icing, then scatter with decorations.
• Chill again for 1 hr to firm up, then serve or keep in the fridge, removing 30 mins before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray six 9-by-2-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line each cake pan with parchment paper and spray parchment.
• In a medium bowl, whisk cocoa with hot water until smooth. Whisk in sour cream; let cool. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to combine after each; scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two parts, alternating with the cocoa mixture and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined.
• Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks to cool 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks; peel off parchment. Reinvert cakes and let cool completely, top sides up.
• Meanwhile, fit a pastry bag with a large plain round tip; fill pastry bag with one-third of the buttercream and set aside.
• Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a cake plate or lazy Susan. Transfer one layer to cake plate and pipe buttercream around the perimeter of the cake. Using about 1 cup remaining buttercream, fill between the buttercream perimeter to create an even layer of filling; sprinkle with some of the crushed peppermint candies. Top with another layer of cake, top side down. Repeat process, filling the cake, piping the buttercream perimeter, creating an even layer with remaining frosting, and sprinkling with peppermint candies, until all the cake layers have been stacked. Spread remaining frosting all over tops and sides of cake; sprinkle top with peppermint candies. Garnish sides of cake plate with any remaining candies; serve.

Steps:

• Grease and flour 2 round cake pans.
• Preheat oven to 350.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together cake ingredients on low for 1 minute, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.
• Increase mixing speed to medium high and beat for 2 minutes more.
• Pour batter into cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until they test done.
• Remove from oven and cool completely.
• While cooling, prepare Ganache:.
• Put all ganache ingredients in 2 cup glass measuring cup.
• Cook on 50% power in microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring well after each minute until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth.
• Cover tightly and let sit for 3-4 hours or until it reaches spreading consistency. If it gets too thick, place in a pan of hot water over medium heat and stir until softens.
• To make filling:.
• Place butter and cream cheese in mixing bowl.
• Cream together until smooth and fluffy.
• Add candy, sugar, flavoring (or schnapps) and about 2 Tbs milk.
• Beat, adding additional milk until mixture is fluffy.
• When cakes are cool, layer them with the filling between layers, reserving about 1/2 cup of the filling for garnish, if you wish.
• Frost layers with cooled ganache.
• Pipe remaining filling on top of cake, or just sprinkle with crushed candy canes.
• Refrigerate to set ganache.