Mint Choc Chip CAKE

So, it is my younger sister, Brit's 18th birthday at the end of the month and she's throwing a cocktail party. I have decided to start my biggest project yet and make her a tiered birthday cake - oh goodness! I am very scared, but scared is good. So I have drawn up a list of flavour combinations for the cakes and I am going to be trying a few out and doing some taste tests with the family each week leading up to the big day. So, this is the first:

I absolutely LOVE Mint-Choc Chip ice cream - it is one of my very favourite flavour combinations ever. So, why on earth had I not thought of putting it into a cake before now? I'm baffled. Tasting this cake was like going to Chocolate-Chip heaven. I think I am going to be making this a lot - everyone who tried some also fell completely in love with it.

For the chocolate cake I used my favourite chocolate cake recipe adapted from one of Sweetapolita's recipe's. It is rich tasting but ever so light and oh so chocolaty - I always use it when I need a chocolate sponge. Oh, it is also incredibly simple! For this cake I split the mixture into two, 6-inch pans rather than 3 (which the original recipe calls for) because I didn't want to overload on the mint choc chip frosting with an extra layer. However now after tasting the cake - 3 would work just fine. 

So - get ready to fall in lurveee. You will need for the cake:

180g Plain Flour
275g Caster Sugar
60g Dark Cocoa Powder - I use Bournville which gives a fab chocolate flavour
1 & 1/4 Tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
1 &1/4 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
140ml Buttermilk
130ml Strong, Hot Brewed Coffee - I use 2 heaped tsp of Millicano instant to make the coffee (A normal sized mug makes more than enough)
75ml Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs - lightly beaten
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 180. Grease 2 or 3, 6-inch tins (depending on how many layers you fancy) line the bottom with grease proof paper and butter the whole tin and sprinkle the sides with flour and tip out excess flour.
2. In your electric mixer bowl - sift all of the dry ingredients
   
3. Add all other ingredients to the dry ingredients and using the paddle mixer, mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
4. Pour your mixture into your tins - weigh out mixture for even sized layers.
5. Put in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes, don't open the oven door before 20 minutes. Insert a toothpick after 20 minutes, if it comes out clean your done, if not put it back in the oven and set the timer for 5 minute bursts until the toothpick comes out clean. Mine take around 30 mins when split into 2 tins.
6. Cool on a wire cooling rack for 20 minutes and then remove from tin and leave on racks to cool completely.

As with most of my frosting's, I do make them up as I go along. Also, the amount will depend on how many layers you baked.

So you will need:

Unsalted butter

Icing Sugar

Peppermint Flavouring or Extract (Mint Flavouring or Extract is meant to be better but I couldn't find it anywhere!)

Whole Milk

100g Packet of Chocolate Chips

Green Colouring

Beat the butter in a mixer until light and fluffy - it will start to go a lighter shade the more you beat it - this is good. The more you whip your frosting, the lighter the frosting with be. Add sugar and a few drops of milk until you have your desired taste and consistency - some people like it slightly buttery, some people like it very sweet and sugary. When you have mastered your frosting base, you can start to very slowly add drops of the peppermint extract and green colouring until again, it meets your desired taste. Be very careful not to add too much extract at this point.

Now, assembling your masterpiece - 

I placed a layer of sponge onto a plate and topped with half of the mint frosting and spread - I then sprinkled chocolate chips over the frosting and placed the next cake layer on top. You can always squish some more chips into the gap if you want to make them more visible. 

I then added the remaining chocolate chips to the frosting and mixed them in - and now it will look like the ice cream! You can add all of the chips at the beginning - it's completely preference. Then just spread your remaining frosting onto the top of the cake. 
Now, try the delicious creation!