Chocolate Peppermint Cake (fun holiday dessert!)

This chocolate peppermint cake is rich, chocolaty and loaded with deliciousness! It’s drizzled with a mint chocolate ganache, then garnished with plenty of peppermint candy, sprinkles and chocolate shavings. Make this holiday cake a part of your celebrations!

Hey there friends!

Sharing a festive holiday cake with you guys today.

I made a version of this chocolate bundt cake a little while back for my dad’s birthday. It turned out so well, I knew I needed to ‘Christmas-ify’ it (is that a thing?)

I opted for a chocolate and peppermint version…with plenty of mint candy and sprinkles, of course! We gotta go all out during the holidays, don’t we?

Ingredients for Chocolate Peppermint Cake

• All purpose flour
• Cocoa powder
• Baking powder, baking soda and salt
• Cream cheese
• Butter
• Sugar
• Vanilla extract and peppermint extract
• Eggs
• Chocolate chips
• Chocolate milk

How to Make This Cake

Full details are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics –

• In a stand mixer (or using a mixing bowl with hand mixer) blend together cream cheese, butter and sugar until fluffy and combined.
• Add eggs (one at a time, until incorporated).
• Peppermint extract goes next.
• Then, pure vanilla extract.

• Add your dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt)…
• Alternating with chocolate milk
• Mix in flour dusted chocolate chips
• Scrape your mixing bowl with a spatula to get all that goodness from the sides of the bowl.

• Pour cake batter into a greased bundt pan and bake.
• Once baked, allow the cake to cool a little in the pan. Then, remove and allow to fully cool before glazing. Note: Though this is not exactly a pound cake, it does have a rich batter. Don’t worry if the bottom of the cake cracks…that’s totally ok!
• Pour over chocolate ganache and decorate.

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How to Make Dark Chocolate Ganache

As I mentioned before, chocolate ganache is basically equal parts chocolate and heavy cream…what’s not to love, right 😉 ?? So to make homemade ganache –

• Grab a heavy bottomed pot and heat heavy cream. Don’t boil, just heat through until it starts to bubble a little around the edges and it’s hot.
• Place chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour hot cream over top. Let sit for a few minutes.
• Slowly start to stir chocolate into cream.
• Stir until cream and chocolate are combined and everything is nice and smooth. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then pour over your cooled bundt cake. It’s kinda magical watching this come together into a lush, rich chocolate glaze.

Can I Use Another Garnish/Topping Instead of Ganache?

Of course!

If you wanna keep things ultra simple you could, of course, enjoy as is OR

• Drizzle with a simple icing sugar glaze
• Dust with icing sugar (also known as powdered sugar)
• Use store-bought chocolate sauce and drizzle over
• Serve with whipped cream (or make that whipped cream extra special by adding a little peppermint extract)
• Enjoy with ice cream (go all out and serve with candy cane ice-cream…a personal fave of mine during the holidays)

Can I Freeze?

You sure can!

If making ahead, you could freeze the (cooled) bundt cake in a freezer safe container, thaw and glaze/decorate after.

Or, if you just want to freeze the leftovers, cut into chunks, place in a freezer safe container and freeze until ready to enjoy.

More Tips

Ensure the cream cheese and butter are softened to room temperature.  It makes things super easy to blend to a creamy consistency.

A 10-inch bundt pan was used for this recipe. If you use a different size, your bake time may need to be adjusted accordingly. Simply bake until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted.

When you insert the wooden skewer, you may see chocolate from the chips and that’s ok. You’ll know when it’s baked when there is no actual cake batter on there.

The style of your bundt pan will have an impact on how your chocolate ganache flows. Not a big deal, but something to keep in mind.

Pour over the chocolate ganache when the cake has FULLY COOLED.

This chocolate peppermint cake is garnished with shaved chocolate, crushed mint candy and sprinkles. If you want to get super fancy with the chocolate, Better Homes and Gardens has some tips to make chocolate curls.

Don’t have mint candy? Use crushed candy cane instead.

More Holiday Treats You May Enjoy

• Gingerbread Bundt Cake – Such a holiday classic! This delicious bundt cake recipe is loaded with all those warming holiday flavours, like cloves and molasses. A glaze and plenty of sprinkles make this holiday dessert extra festive.
• Eggnog Donuts – These easy baked donuts are a great way to use leftover eggnog! They’re infused with warming spices and topped with an eggnog infused icing sugar glaze.
• Chocolate Shortbread Cookies – These butter shortbread cookies are dipped in dark chocolate and then sprinkled with dried cranberries and walnuts. They freeze well and taste oh so delish!
• Chocolate Mint Avocado Pudding Tarts – This easy holiday dessert is creamy, dreamy and super easy to prepare. Garnish with crushed candy cane and fresh mint.

Hope you love this christmas bundt cake as much as we do!

Until next time, take care and chit chat again soon,

Dawn

Make this mint cake? That’s awesome! Love it if you left a comment below. Many thanks!

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5 from 13 votes

Chocolate Peppermint Cake (fun holiday dessert!)

This chocolate peppermint cake is rich, chocolaty and loaded with deliciousness! It's drizzled with a mint chocolate ganache, then garnished with plenty of peppermint candy, sprinkles and chocolate shavings. Make this holiday cake a part of your celebrations!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Canadian

Keyword bundt cake recipe, christmas dessert, holiday dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Cooling Time 3 hours

Total Time 4 hours 5 minutes

Servings 1 10-inch bundt cake

Author Dawn – Girl Heart Food

Ingredients

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

• 2 cups all purpose flour (plus 1 tablespoon for chocolate chips (or use cocoa powder for the chips))
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 250 gram package cream cheese , softened
• 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• baking spray or other type of baking grease (to grease bundt pan)
• 1/2 cup chocolate milk

Chocolate Ganache

• 3/4 cup heavy cream (also known as 'whipped cream', 35% milk fat)
• 6 ounces dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate , chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Suggested Garnish Options

• 1/2 cup peppermint candy , roughly chopped
• chocolate shavings (to taste)
• festive sprinkles (to taste)
• fresh mint leaves (to taste)

Instructions

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

• Spoon 1 tablespoon of flour or cocoa powder over chocolate chips, stirring to coat. Lay to one side.
• In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine and lay to one side. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In stand mixer on medium speed (or in a bowl using a hand mixer) combine cream cheese, butter and sugar. Blend until smooth and combined, about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl once or twice.
• Add peppermint extract and vanilla extract and blend about 30 seconds.
• Add eggs, one at a time, until just combined.
• Blend in reserved flour mixture, alternating with chocolate milk. Don't over mix.
• Add chocolate chips and mix until just combined.
• Spray 10-inch bundt pan with baking spray. Scoop batter into pan. Smooth top with a spoon. Tap pan down 15 to 20 times on a hard surface to allow it to settle.
• Bake for approximately 55 to 65 minutes or until wooden skewer comes out clean of batter when inserted. Because ovens vary (as well as bundt pans), check on at the 50 minute mark to see how it's doing.

  Note: Though this is not exactly a pound cake, it does have a rich batter. Don't worry if the bottom of the cake cracks…that's totally ok!
• Once baked, let cool 30 minutes in pan. Then, carefully release cake from pan, allowing it to cool completely on a rack.
• Allow cake to FULLY cool before pouring over ganache. Once cool, pour over chocolate ganache and sprinkle with chopped peppermint candy and shaved chocolate. Ganache will set as it cools. Enjoy!

Chocolate Ganache

• In a heavy bottomed pot on medium low, heat cream. Don't boil. Heat through until it bubbles around edges and is heated through.
• Placed chopped chocolate in a heat safe bowl. Pour hot cream over top and allow to sit 5 minutes without stirring.
• Gently stir to incorporate until everything is smooth and combined. Stir in peppermint extract. Allow to cool 10 minutes before pouring over cooled chocolate peppermint cake.

Video

Notes

• Ensure the cream cheese and butter are softened to room temperature.  It makes things super easy to blend to a creamy consistency.
• A 10-inch bundt pan was used for this recipe. If you use a different size, your bake time may need to be adjusted accordingly. Simply bake until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted.  Tip: When you insert the wooden skewer, you may see chocolate from the chips and that’s ok. You’ll know when it’s baked when there is no actual cake batter on there.
• The style of your bundt pan will have an impact on how your chocolate ganache flows. Not a big deal, but something to keep in mind.
• Pour over the chocolate ganache when the cake has FULLY COOLED.
• Don’t have mint candy? Use crushed candy cane instead.
• More recipe tips in body of post above.

Tried this recipe? That’s awesome!Mention @dawn.girlheartfood or tag #girlheartfood