Chocolate Cake with Mint Chocolate Ganache

Mabel knew just what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday. She requested this chocolate cake with mint chocolate frosting.

The cake made two 9 inch rounds, plus about 8 cupcakes. It is very moist and sort of crumbly, so it can be kind of tricky to get out of the pan. Make sure you grease the pans really well and dust them with cocoa powder. I didn't have cupcake liners, so I lost about half of the cupcakes to sticking, but we didn't mind that one bit. We grabbed a fork and ate them right up. I made the cake the day before, then covered it in plastic and stored it in the fridge.

I used this ganache recipe and added 1 1/2 teaspoons of peppermint extract after the chocolate was mixed in. I liked this recipe better than the last Martha ganache recipe I tried. It made just the right amount to frost the cake, and it was sweeter. Also, no whipping was involved. Just chilling in the fridge until it was a spreadable consistency.

I loved this cake. It was super rich and fudgey, with a hint of mint in a nice, solid frosting.