I haven't shared a recipe for a while and I realized that is because I don't really follow recipes. I have been cooking and baking from scratch for enough time that I normally just throw things together with good results. Then when something turns out really well, I wish I had written down the recipe so that I can repeat it. My husband's birthday was on Monday and I wanted to make a special birthday cake. His preference is always for something chocolate. The little babe said that she wanted to make a "sprinkle cake", since sprinkles are a favorite around here right now. Both my husband and the little babe love mint chocolate chip ice cream, so I decided to try and make a "healthy" chocolate mint cake. I wanted to try using real mint from our garden instead of peppermint extract. Then I realized that I could make it even healthier and continue with the green theme by adding zucchini. I even found sprinkles made with vegetable juice instead of chemicals, so the little babe was happy. I was really hoping this cake turned out, so I did write down the recipe.
Hint of Mint Cake
1. Gather one loose cupful of organic mint leaves. Rinse and pat dry.
2. In a food processor, combine mint leaves with one cup of white sugar. Pulse until combined.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat 1/2 cup of softened butter with the mint sugar until fluffy.
4. Add two eggs and beat until combined.
5. In another bowl, combine the following: 1 1/3 cups of flour (I used 1 cup of whole wheat and 1/3 cup of white flour), 2/3 cups of Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa (or any dark cocoa), 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
6. Add the dry to the wet ingredients and beat until smooth.
7. Stir in 1 cup of finely grated zucchini.
8. Fold in 1 cup of warm water.
9. Pour into a greased 9" round cake pan and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.
For the icing, I was really just kind of winging it, but it actually turned out amazing! I did not use exact measurements for this, so I'll walk you through it. In a small saucepan over low heat, I heated about 1/4 cup of milk and 8 torn mint leaves. I didn't pound them, just tore each leaf into two or three pieces. After about 20 minutes, I removed the milk from the heat and let it cool with the mint leaves still in it. About an hour later, I strained the leaves out of the milk. Then I made a simple white icing using 1/2 cup of veggie shortening, several cups of powdered sugar, and about 2 tablespoons of the mint milk. I normally make my icing with butter, but thought that the mint taste would come through better with the neutral flavored veggie shortening. I was amazed with how strong the mint flavor was with just the small amount of mint milk.
After I spread on the icing, the little babe got to do her part and she merrily sprinkled away. The cake was delicious and I felt good about making it with healthy green food from the garden. (We won't talk about the sugar.)
This post shared on Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop.