Monthly Archives: February 2021

Chocolate Chip Mint Pot o’ Gold Cake

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Anyone would do a jig for a slice of this Chocolate Chip Mint Pot o’ Gold Cake! Light green, with delicate mint flavor and dark chocolate speckles, it’s ideal for your St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Dark, fudgy chocolate frosting and a generous mound of chocolate gold coins will turn this sweet dessert into a leprechaun’s treasure. The first slice can be neatly plated, but when you cut the second slice, all of the coins and candy in the middle will come tumbling out. The kids will love this!

My recipe actually makes two Bundt cakes, which are later placed together to create a rounded “pot” shape. While one is baking, the remaining batter rests happily in the fridge (unless you happen to have TWO Bundt pans and can bake them together).

I chose a thick frosting to fill in the designs made by the Bundt pan. The frosting hardens fairly quickly, but can be encouraged to spread with a few drops of milk or coffee if necessary. Don’t worry about making it perfectly smooth; once the cake is iced you’ll be able to gently pat with your hands (yes, gloves are a good idea if you’re baking this for others) to remove rough spots.

By the way, I know most people would call this “mint chocolate chip”, but wouldn’t that mean that the chocolate chips were mint flavored? We always called the ice cream (my favorite, by the way) “chocolate chip mint”. I caved in and went with the majority when I posted my Mint Chocolate Chip Pie, but not this time. Nope. I take my chocolate chip mint seriously!

Hints:

  • Quality peppermint extract matters! Mine was old and smelled kind of funky, so I ordered some from Nielsen-Massey. What a difference! You know I don’t have advertising on this blog, so there’s nothing in this for me, but I was really impressed with the bright flavor.
  • Frequent scraping of the bowl while mixing is very important. Scrape the beaters once in a while too so there are no clumps of butter in your batter.
  • Try not to open the oven door while the cake is baking.
  • Let your eggs and butter come to room temperature before mixing. And don’t rush the process. Each egg needs to get thoroughly beaten into the batter.
  • Order the chocolate coins online. Buying the little bags would be awfully expensive! I got mine on Amazon for a reasonable price.

Good stuff!

Chocolate Chip Mint Pot o' Gold Cake
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This makes a larger than usual amount of cake batter, since two cakes will be needed to create the "pot" shape. If you are making this cake for another occasion, the batter will be enough for one large Bundt pan and a standard loaf pan.
Ingredients
  • CAKE:
  • 2 cups (4 sticks) salted butter, room temperature (If using unsalted, add ½ teaspoon salt to dry ingredients)
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 8 large eggs, room temperature
  • 4½ cups cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • ¾ cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract (more if desired)
  • green food coloring
  • 3.5 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
  • FROSTING:
  • 1 cup salted butter
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 1¼ cups dark cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
  • ⅓ cup milk (a little more if needed to thin frosting as you work with it)
  • ¼ cup strong coffee
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. CAKE: Heat oven to 325 F. with the rack in the middle of the oven. Use a flour/oil spray (like Baker's Joy) to coat the inside of a large Bundt pan. (Or grease and flour the inside, taking care to get in all the nooks and crannies.)
  2. In a large bowl (a sturdy stand mixer is highly recommended) beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat 3-4 minutes, until very light, scraping the bowl occasionally.
  3. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each egg. (Your patience will be rewarded!)
  4. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt two times. Set aside
  5. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, vanilla, and peppermint extract.
  6. Beginning with the dry ingredients and ending with the wet, alternately add ⅓ of each, mixing on low speed after each addition, just until incorporated.
  7. By hand, gently fold in the chopped chocolate and enough green food color to get the color you want.
  8. Spoon half of the mixture evenly into the prepared Bundt pan (about 5½ cups), refrigerating the other half. Smooth the top and bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until the top edge is browned and a toothpick or skewer comes out clean when inserted in the cake.
  9. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
  10. Clean and prepare the pan and repeat with the remaining batter. Let both cakes cool completely.
  11. FROSTING: In a small pan, melt butter and unsweetened chocolate on lowest heat—or use a microwave. Stir in cocoa and transfer to a large bowl. (Again, a stand mixer is very helpful.)
  12. Combine the milk, coffee, and vanilla and add alternately with powdered sugar, about ⅓ of each at a time. Beat well.
  13. ASSEMBLY: The frosting will thicken fairly quickly; be prepared to add a little more liquid (milk or coffee) if needed. Place one cake, with the large flat side up, on serving plate. Cover with frosting and place the second cake, large flat side down, on top to create a round shape.
  14. Frost your way around the cake, leaving the cavity and the area around it unfrosted. (You can frost the whole top, but the coins will stick.) Make it as smooth as possible, Save enough frosting to make a "rim" around the top
  15. Once the entire cake is frosted, press gently on an area with your finger. If it sticks to your finger, wait a little longer. Once the frosting has firmed up, use your warm hands (wear gloves if you wish) to press and smooth all around the cake.
  16. Use a large round icing tip to pipe a rim around the top of the cake, then fill the center and top with gold coins.
  17. I used green royal icing to add grass and clovers.
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Cream the butter and sugar like you mean it! 3-4 minutes. It should be very fluffy.

Beat the eggs in, one by one. Take your time! See how yellow and light the batter is? Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients . . .

Then add one third of the liquids. Repeat dry ingredients, liquids, dry ingredients, liquids. Don’t overstir – just until combined.

Gently fold in green food coloring and chopped chocolate.

Spoon half of the batter into prepared Bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake!

Once cakes are completely cool, start the frosting. Melt chocolate and butter on low heat (or use microwave).

Stir the cocoa into the butter mixture. It doesn’t have to be smooth – it just keeps you from getting a face-full of powdered cocoa when you start up the mixer.

Alternately add the powdered sugar and the liquids. Beat well.

Put the two flat sides together with frosting

I didn’t frost in the cavity or around it so the coins would cascade out when cut. And one pound of coins fell a little short, so I filled the void with a few chocolate mint candies.

 

These things, I warmly wish for you-
Someone to love, some work to do,
A bit of o’ sun, a bit o’ cheer.
And a guardian angel always near.

Lorinda

 

 

 

 

Cherry Swirl Bread

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Love is baked right into this bread, with a heart-shaped swirl of cherries and walnuts. The dough is surprisingly simple to make, and creating the heart just takes an extra step or two; I’ll walk you through it.

Make sure your bread pan isn’t too small. A 9-inch by 5-inch pan (or even a little bigger) works well.  This is a large loaf . . . more to love!

I used dried, sweetened dark cherries. (Not freeze-dried!) On my first attempt I used frozen dark cherries (heated and drained) and it was a sloppy mess. Still, it almost worked . . . if you don’t count the dramatic way it blew up in the pan. Luckily, I half expected this, and used a sheet pan under the bread pan. Whew.

Of course, if you don’t want to fuss with the heart shape, you can just roll it up with the filling like a spiral bread. It’s still delicious! But I really recommend my method of brushing egg wash on the dough as you roll. It helps the whole thing hold together. No one wants to pick up a piece of bread and have it unroll!

Cherry Swirl Bread
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Makes 1 large loaf of bread. (Use at least a 9x5 pan.)
Ingredients
  • BREAD:
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • ¼ cup warm water with a pinch of sugar added
  • 1 package active-dry yeast
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 3¾ cups flour (adjust if needed)
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon oil (light flavored, like canola or peanut oil)
  • FILLING:
  • 5 ounces finely chopped dried (not freeze dried!) dark cherries - about a cup
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 egg white (reserve the yolk for assembly)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup ground (or very finely chopped) walnuts
Instructions
  1. BREAD: Heat milk and butter until butter is melted. Pour into a large mixing bowl (a sturdy stand mixer with a dough hook is recommended). In a small cup or bowl, combine warm water with a pinch of sugar and the yeast. Let it sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.
  2. To the milk mixture in bowl, add yeast mixture, egg, sugar, and 2 cups of the bread flour. Beat well.
  3. Add salt and remaining flour, (enough to make dough come cleanly away from sides of bowl) and mix until completely combined. With mixer running, drizzle oil over the dough and knead by machine for 6 minutes (or by hand on lightly floured surface for 8 minutes).
  4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise until double, approximately 45-60 minutes. Make the filling while the dough rises.
  5. FILLING: Mix together finely chopped cherries, sugar, flour, egg white, vanilla, and walnuts. Set aside. Combine the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water and whisk well.
  6. ASSEMBLY: Move raised dough to a very lightly floured surface. Press into a rectangle or log. Cut off ⅓ and set aside.
  7. Press the larger piece of dough firmly into greased bread pan. (I spray my pan with a flour/oil blend like Baker's Joy). Try to make the dough level. Set aside.
  8. Roll the small piece of dough into a long rectangle, approximately 8 inches by 15 inches. Distribute the filling over the dough. Don't worry if it doesn't completely cover the dough, just keep it as even as possible.
  9. You will be rolling both ends toward the middle, so mark the middle of one of the long sides for reference. Beginning at one short end, roll dough snugly, pulling toward yourself slightly as you go. Use a pastry brush or paper towel to brush the floury bottom side lightly with egg wash as you roll. (This will help the swirls stick together.) Roll to your middle mark. Repeat, rolling from the other end. Both sides should be equal - if not, adjust by unrolling the larger side a little and rolling the other until they touch. Pinch the ends closed.
  10. With a sharp knife, cut the dough in the pan lengthwise, right down the middle, almost to the bottom of the pan. Use your hands or a dough scraper to make a V-shaped channel.
  11. With floured hands, quickly pick up the rolled dough. The round tops will be the top of the heart, so press the sides to make the bottom a little pointed, and tuck the roll into the V-shaped channel in the pan, getting it as deep as possible.
  12. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until the bottom section of dough is just above the sides of the pan. (The heart part will be higher.) Brush with any remaining egg wash.
  13. Heat oven to 375F. Place bread pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, or until it's a rich dark brown. Bottom should sound hollow when tapped.
  14. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool completely before cutting. (Don't cut while hot, or the filling might not set properly.)
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The dough is easy, so I’m not going to overwhelm you with prep photos. Here it is, ready to rise.

This is nice dough – not sticky, rises quickly. I cut corners and didn’t move it to a greased bowl. It was fine rising in the mixing bowl. (One less thing to wash!)

Cut 1/3 of the dough off and set it aside.

Press the large piece of dough firmly into bread pan. Make it as level as possible.

Roll out the small piece of dough and cover with filling. (I forgot the walnuts, so sprinkled them on. It worked!)

Brush the dough as you go!

Meetin’ in the middle!
And yeah, yeah, it got a little messy. I was on a roll and forgot to stop in the center. Had to put it in reverse. Adds some rustic charm to the finished bread.

Slash the dough in pan down the middle and press open into a V-shaped channel.

Pick up rolled dough, pressing together at the bottom (which will be the pointy part of the heart) and fit into the channel in the pan.

Let it rise until the bottom bread is just above the edge of the pan. The rounded heart dough will be standing tall. Brush with remaining egg wash.

Baked.

I know it’s hard to wait, but do let this bread cool down before cutting. The texture will be so much better. Warm is okay; you have to be able to melt that butter, right? Or put a couple of slices under the broiler and enjoy it toasted. (I don’t recommend using a toaster. If that filling fell out, it would make a real mess.)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Lorinda