Dark Chocolate Grasshopper Cake

It's the season of Shamrock Shakes at good old Mickey D's...which tempts me every time a drive past the golden arches. Sigh... Instead, I made some grasshopper cake for Valentine's Day and I do believe it turned out pretty great. At least, that's what my stomach tells me after careful testing.

It's a pretty simple cake that can be made mostly with ingredients you probably already have on hand. Bonus. The problem with this dessert is that it's "refreshing"...which makes you want to have a little "refresher" more than once in a day. Grasshopper Cake for breakfast, grasshopper cake for lunch, and grasshopper cake for dinner. Yeah, it just might happen.

It's also suuuper easy to make. I didn't even need to whip out the Kitchenaid for this one.

Now, my presentation is pretty terrible, but appearance isn't always everything...

Next time, I'd like to make these as cupcakes. Perhaps with a Thin Mint garnish. Yum.

Ingredients: 

The cake:

• 1-3/4 c. flour
• 2 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1 c. strong black coffee (cooled)
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

The peppermint icing:

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softed
• 2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp. milk
• 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
• A couple drops of green food coloring

For the glaze:

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. milk chocolate chips
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl. 
3. Add eggs, buttermilk, black coffee, oil, and vanilla.
4. Bake in 9x13 pan for approximately 35 minutes.
5. For icing, mix butter, powdered sugar, milk, peppermint extract, and food coloring until it reaches your desired consistency, adding more powdered sugar or milk as needed.
6. Allow cake to cool before icing.
7. For glaze, combine butter, chocolate chips, and peppermint extract in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at 30 second intervals until smooth and drizzle over the top of the cake.