This weekend, our street held our first progressive dinner to celebrate the holidays. We had 3 host homes in the progression, with ours hosting dessert and after-dinner drinks. We offered decorate-your-own Christmas cookies (which didn’t work out quite as well as I hoped) and this Chocolate Peppermint Cake. It’s always nice to have a room full of tastetesters to confirm the quality of a new recipe!
You may recognize this recipe, as it’s based on my Chocolate Spice Cake from early last year. This version is more of the festive variety and the taste may remind you of a Andes candy. The cake isn’t what I would call healthy, but it’s absolutely of the healthIER variety.
Not only does this cake taste delicious, but it’s pretty easy to make. The topping is the easiest part, thanks to the NuNaturals Cocoa Mint Syrup that I was sent to try out. I hadn’t found quite the right use for it until this weekend. Don’t miss the giveaway at the end of this post!
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 30 drops peppermint stevia
- 6 candy canes, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1/4 cup cocoa mint syrup
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove all plastic from candy canes and divide into one group of 4 and one group of 2. Place 2 on cutting board and cover with a paper towel. Smash with a meat tenderizer or rolling pin until they are reduced to small pieces. Place aside and repeat process with the remaining 4 candy canes. Set aside in a separate pile.
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour through cloves. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining cake ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until completely mixed. Stir in small pile of crushed candy canes (from the 2 you crushed earlier).
- Pour mix into a bundt pan coated with cooking spray and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove and allow to cool. Flip over onto cake stand or plate for serving. Once completely cooled, drizzle cocoa mint syrup over top and sprinkle generously with remaining peppermint crumbs.
Don’t miss the final step to let the cake cool completely before topping with the syrup & candy canes, so that it doesn’t soak up all the goodness into the cake itself.
[Tweet “A perfect #cake to bring to your next party — Chocolate Peppermint Cake. #recipe via @FITaspire”]