Chocolate Peppermint Cake

Ingredients

Chocolate Peppermint Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar
• 34 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sieved
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup buttermilk at room temperature
• 1/4 cup of hot water or coffee
• Two large eggs at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp peppermint extract optional

Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

• Six large egg whites
• 2 cups Granulated Sugar Lightly Packaged
• 2 cups of unsalted butter cubed at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Use 1 tsp extract of peppermint, or more according to taste
• bright white gel
• 2 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
• red color gel

Assembly:

• Add more to the outside of the cake if you like.
• candy cane sprinkles

Instructions

Chocolate Peppermint Cake:

• Grease three 6″ round baking pans and dust them with cocoa powder. Line the bottoms of baking pans with parchment.
• All dry ingredients should be placed in the bowl of an electric stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix well.
• Pour the water slowly into a medium-sized bowl to avoid cooking the eggs.
• Mix ingredients on medium for 2 to 3 minutes. The batter will be thin.
• Pour evenly into the pans. I used a scale in the kitchen to make sure that the batter was evenly distributed.
• Bake until the tester is mostly clean. Total 30-35 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, turn the pans out onto a rack and let them cool down completely.

Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

• Place the egg whites in a bowl and add sugar. Whisk until well combined. *
• Place the bowl on top of a pot with hot water and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes hot and is no longer grainy. 3mins). Or registers 160F or higher on a candy thermometer.
• The bowl should be placed on the stand mixer. Whisk on medium-high speed until the meringue has stiffened and cooled. 5-10mins)).
• Use the paddle attachment. Add the cubed butter slowly and continue to mix until smooth. **
• Add peppermint and vanilla extracts (to taste), and beat until smooth.
• Remove 1 1/2 cups buttercream (more for stripes inside). Add 2-3 Tbsp powdered sugar to that and add enough color gel until you get the desired red. The color will gradually darken.
• Use bright white color gel to remove any yellow tint from the frosting.