Mint Chocolate Chip Grasshopper Cake

So this weekend I tried my 2nd recipe out of the cookbook I "borrowed" from my sister Cat's stuff that she left stored at my parent's house while she's in Prague. Time will tell if I give it back! :-) It's called The Grit Restaurant Cookbook--a popular restaurant in Athens, Georgia where Cat when to college. Anyway, I know from all your responses to the candy recipes I shared back at Christmas that all of you love chocolate as much as I do. When I saw this recipe, I knew I'd like it. I did. I like it enough that its too good to not share! I usually try not to share recipes with something like cream cheese as an ingredient, but I think a good number of you can get it, so I'll do it anyway! I've been getting mine at a wholesale food market in town (one that supplies hotel restaurants and such) in 2kg blocks. It ends up being really cheap that way! For others of you in Asia, you might see if your city has something like that! Anyway, hope you enjoy this!

Mint Chocolate Chip Grasshopper Cake

Cake:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

1 Tbs baking soda

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 Tbs vanilla extract

3 cups strong brewed coffee

1/4 cup cider vinegar (I used white)

Icing:

2 8-oz packages cream cheese, slightly softened and cut into small pieces

1/2 cup butter, at room temp

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or about 3-4 chopped up chocolate candy bars)

1 Tbs mint extract

Green food coloring

Chocolate shavings to decorate, opt

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 3 (9 in) round cake pans. Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add oil and vanilla extract. With electric mixer on low speed, blend until fully combined. With mixer on medium speed, gradually blend in cooled coffee. When mixture is smooth, add vinegar and blend on low speed just until combined. Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or just until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center of layers comes out clean. Remove from oven, cool 15 to 20 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pans and allow layers to fully cool before icing. 

To prepare icing:  Place chocolate chips in food processor or blender and pulse just until broken into very small pieces. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Add butter and beat until smooth, creamy and fully combined. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat slowly until sugar is incorporated. Continue to beat until consistency is extremely smooth and fluffy (FYI, at this point you just have a basic cream cheese frosting that would be good on any cake!). Combine icing with chopped chocolate chips, mint extract and enough food coloring to give it a vibrant, green color (I made mine look like mint choc chip ice cream). Mix until fully blended. Frost between layers, and top and sides of cake. Decorate as desired with chocolate chips or chocolate shavings (make your own by peeling a chocolate bar with a vegetable peeler). 

Notes: I made mine in a 9x13 pan and 12 mini muffin cups. It was REALLY thick and probably took 45 minutes to bake in the 9x13 pan. I think if you are making a whole recipe and aren't making a layer cake that you could easily put the batter in a 9x13 and an 8x8 or a round pan. OR make a half recipe and just cook it in a 7x11 casserole dish. I also think you could make a half recipe of frosting for a 9x13 pan. I had too much frosting to put on, even layering it on pretty thick and doing a little dollop on the mini-cupcakes I did for the kids. Anyway, if you make the whole recipe, you'll see the mass of batter and icing and can decide what works for your pan options! I think this would be SO pretty as a layer cake--I just can't fit 3 pans in my oven at once and didn't feel like taking the time to bake them one by one. FYI, my husband can't stand coffee flavored things and he did NOT notice the coffee in this (and I didn't tell him!!). I just noticed it doesn't have eggs in it! The vinegar/soda combo makes it rise really well and its super moist. ENJOY!!