Mint Cake

This green mint cake is dense and flavorful.  Try this mint layer cake recipe for your next celebration!

The Hippie Chick had another birthday.  Why do they just keep happening?

She’s getting so grown up, and so beautiful, it makes me feel completely unprepared for the future that lies ahead of her.  What happened to my cute little baby girl?

While she continues to grow and change, some things never change, like her love of vanilla.  I hope you don’t think me a bad mom, but when she asked for vanilla cake for her birthday (again!), I totally talked her out of it.  I told her it’s boring (which is true), and that it’s been done to death (also true), and that I’m sure we could come up with something much more interesting this year.

After some back and forth, we finally agreed on this Mint Cake.  Mission accomplished.

Here’s a little glimpse into my life.  Since Hippie Chick’s birthday is so close to her cousin Tank’s birthday, we celebrate them both together, and this year, the celebrating happened at Tank’s house.

This means I had to make the cake and photograph it before taking it to the big party.

Which means I had to cut a piece out of it.  {Perhaps you remember my feelings about that?}

Which means I had to take it to the party after cutting a big chunk out of it.  My poor kids.  Lucky for me, they don’t seem to mind this embarrassment.

The bigger problem was that my car was in the shop, and we were borrowing a car which did not have working air conditioning.

And it’s July.  And the party is at 5 pm.

And did I mention that I live in the desert?

The frosting and all the beautiful white chocolate decorations were no match for the 95F degree heat.

On the bright side, this kept no one from eating it.  Every piece was devoured, and I literally took home an empty platter.

An empty platter, and a bag full of birthday gifts for Hippie Chick.  Happy Birthday baby girl!

Print Recipe

Mint Cake

A moist and dense mint-flavored buttermilk cake, with vanilla buttercream frosting.

Cook Time25 mins

Servings: 12 slices

Author: Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies

Ingredients

For Cake:

• 1 box white cake mix (not prepared)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg + 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• green food coloring

For Frosting:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk or heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• about 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• white chocolate shavings for garnish (optional)

Instructions

• In a small bowl, combine sour cream, buttermilk, milk, and eggs.
• In large mixing bowl, place cake mix, shortening, and half of the sour cream mixture. Mix well. Add remaining sour cream mixture, and mix well.
• Add mint extract and food coloring. (I used a small squeeze of green gel food color.) Mix until combined. You may need to scrape down the sides and mix a second time.
• Divide batter evenly between two greased 9-inch round cake pans, spreading evenly around each pan. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool before frosting.
• For frosting, whip butter for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and white. Add remaining ingredients and whip well, until smooth and combined.
• Frost between layers, and around the outside of the cake. If desired, garnish with white chocolate shavings.