Grasshopper Cake

I suck at blogging. But, I have been cooking and baking and taking pictures. So maybe one day I'll catch up.

In the meantime, here's what I used to make a Grasshopper Cake for my friend Paul's 25th birthday. I got some help from my new "stand mixer" (read: DJ using my hand mixer for me because it drives me crazy to have to just stand and mix for so long). He also helped me not completely lose my marbles when I ran out of dark brown sugar and had to use light brown instead (whoops).

My new stand mixer. Aren't you jealous?
 

I googled "grasshopper cake" to find a recipe, and after looking over a couple contenders I decided to go with this one from the He-Eats blog. I attempted to follow his instructions as closely as possible (with the exception of having to use half light brown sugar) but I'll put them here again. (Note: He credits Baked: New Frontiers in Baking for the recipe.)

Ingredients (cakes):

• 3/4 c dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 c hot water
• 2/3 c sour cream
• 2 2/3 c all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 c vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1 c firmly packed dark brown sugar (I used about 1/2 dark and 1/2 light)
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Ingredients (creme de menthe buttercream frosting):

• 2 1/4 c sugar
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 c milk
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 4 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces (I only quartered the sticks)
• 2 tbsp creme de menthe
• 2 1/4 tsp peppermint extract

BUTTER!

Ingredients (mint chocolate ganache):

• 6 oz dark chocolate (I used 60% cacao), coarsely chopped
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1 tbsp creme de menthe
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Ingredients (chocolate mint leaves):

• 20 fresh mint leaves
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate

My practice chocolate mint leaves.

Process:

1. Preheat the oven  to 325F. Butter and line three 8-in cake pans with parchment paper. Butter the paper as well, then dust with flour.
2. Whisk the cocoa, hot water, and sour cream together in a medium bowl, then set aside to cool.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a medium bowl.
4. Beat butter and shortening together in a large bowl on medium until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add sugars and beat for another 5 minutes or so.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between additions. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, 1/2 of the cocoa mixture, 1/3 flour, 1/2 cocoa, 1/3 flour, mixing well between each.
7. Divide equally among pans, smooth out the top, and bake for 35-40 min until it passes the toothpick test (mine baked for about 43 min). Cool in pans for about 20 min before turning out to cool completely.
8. For the buttercream, whisk together the sugar and flour in a medium saucepan. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heating, occasionally whisking, for about 20 min until thickened.
9. Once removed from heat, beat on high speed until it has cooled to room temperature (may splatter). Switch to low speed and add the butter; beat until incorporated and then turn to medium and beat until light and fluffy.
10. Add in creme de menthe and peppermint and beat to combine. (For a greener frosting, I also added 4 drops of green food coloring.)
11. For the ganache, put the chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for about 2 min, then gently mix together the chocolate and cream until emulsified. Add creme de menthe and peppermint and sit to combine.
12. Let the ganache cool for about 15 minutes.
13. To put it all together, place a cake layer on the serving plate. Spread about 1/4 c ganache on the top and put in the fridge for about 1 min to firm up. Spread about 1 1/4 c buttercream on top of the ganache. Add the second layer and repeat. Add the third layer.
14. Crumb coat the cake and refrigerate for about 15 min. Frost the sides and top with the remaining buttercream and decorate however you want (I placed chocolate mint leaves on top).
15. For the chocolate mint leaves, melt the chocolate until smooth. Use a clean paint brush to brush a thick layer of melted chocolate on to the underside of the mint leaf. Place chocolate side up across the handle of a wooden spoon set atop a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Refrigerate until set (at least 15 min). Peel the leaf off of the chocolate. Use the chocolate leaf immediately or refrigerate in a sealed container until used (up to 3 days).

I thought it turned out pretty well, and I didn't hear any complaints, so I think I'm good. Enjoy!

Finished product.

It's lucky it survived the trip to the party - almost didn't make it out of my kitchen!