minty fresh

What do you bring over to your dear friends' house that will go well with champaign (New Years Eve champaign) and also make 5 kids under 10 happy? Chocolate - mint cake. I made this for our New Years Eve celebration after drooling over the recipe <a href="http://issuu.com/feaststl/docs/feastmag/63" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TMJ-s06l-3RayF31_98IfoDOsBwZDzLvSa6jWg5nvwiPYfHQ2QzxVv5maKAuzok5-evJj7jhE3LdiCrviAhV2zhWk02evEIxzByG1rjtAOd1QCSbBQE1Lmtb627ePSXoaMgR0I095hFy/s1600/PC312905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TMJ-s06l-3RayF31_98IfoDOsBwZDzLvSa6jWg5nvwiPYfHQ2QzxVv5maKAuzok5-evJj7jhE3LdiCrviAhV2zhWk02evEIxzByG1rjtAOd1QCSbBQE1Lmtb627ePSXoaMgR0I095hFy/s320/PC312905.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My layman's attempt</td></tr></tbody></table>Chocolate, peppermint and almost 3 full sticks of butter? Yes please! All that's missing is bacon and this would be the worlds best recipe. OK, maybe not bacon in the cake, but you know what I mean. And, even better, I had a bag of peppermints left over from my <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/12/good-enough-to-eat.html" target="_blank">wreaths</a>. It was obviously ment to be.<br /><br />You can get the cake recipe from the link above, so I won't repeat it here. Instead I've give you my insider tips. The perfect 'I wish I'd known this' accompaniment for all your baking needs.<br /><br /><br />1. <b>You need some muscle.</b> The thing that makes peppermints perfect for wreath making is what makes them 'challenging' for cake decorating. Those suckas are hard.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzb3Dubb7PP4mb7Q1bWEf6CLTcFwWxopkkK9xpp48LKt0x1d6H3I-p7dsGdtQob8xFws2cnI7HVBUfdGy-GE6EqY0-K2rbggWRgtmLcp3vCZ0p1-2rRb0Vnhn644Shm_1b88BwkCWL7hX/s1600/PC312860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzb3Dubb7PP4mb7Q1bWEf6CLTcFwWxopkkK9xpp48LKt0x1d6H3I-p7dsGdtQob8xFws2cnI7HVBUfdGy-GE6EqY0-K2rbggWRgtmLcp3vCZ0p1-2rRb0Vnhn644Shm_1b88BwkCWL7hX/s200/PC312860.JPG" width="133" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had them switch to something stronger than serving spoons.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbMOS5AW0kXcG9MzmiUqkWuS_ON53D2An01e1vW9XL2JgPpeM7vwSGvYYGSDfTKXD02nd-1BCn4XSmpLFkqclD0EjdmS5wN1Q9mO6hSn2ZOauDkTKwcVVnknj-Pyx_BGQZF2myZ0mMg4Y/s1600/PC312879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbMOS5AW0kXcG9MzmiUqkWuS_ON53D2An01e1vW9XL2JgPpeM7vwSGvYYGSDfTKXD02nd-1BCn4XSmpLFkqclD0EjdmS5wN1Q9mO6hSn2ZOauDkTKwcVVnknj-Pyx_BGQZF2myZ0mMg4Y/s200/PC312879.JPG" width="200" /></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The whole 'haphazard, randomly broken into varying shapes and sizes peppermint' is actually hard to attain. I had two helpers whacking away at those suckers for a good 20 minutes. I would recommend 1 - 3 glasses of wine (depending on the strength of your whackers) to drown out the loud ringing in your ears. (hard candies equal hard whacks)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>2. <b>Invest in a vat.</b> If the cake serves 18-20, then the frosting must serve 40-50. We cooked the frosting in my big pot. The one I use for spaghetti. And that sucker was full. We had enough left over to frost 2 other cakes and a dozen cupcakes. Luke suggested I freeze the rest in a tupperware container and use it the next time I bake a cake. I'm sorry, I don't have a tupperware container big enough to hold a vat of frosting.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4Lt-CM0cHusk2Ycc_Y7GomXZaXPsu0IzC2LQVr08kLnNQHzeHegXd919HO1pnteg-tdsxytT_FoqOv6AWrhGXUHhS50ERX0PCwVr4ghyphenhyphenKq26JCqyLnQAUj3XGIAkm2qwMmgRwH0qfSex/s1600/PC312868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4Lt-CM0cHusk2Ycc_Y7GomXZaXPsu0IzC2LQVr08kLnNQHzeHegXd919HO1pnteg-tdsxytT_FoqOv6AWrhGXUHhS50ERX0PCwVr4ghyphenhyphenKq26JCqyLnQAUj3XGIAkm2qwMmgRwH0qfSex/s320/PC312868.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leftover frosting</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3. <b>Its flourless cake with the flour</b>. This cake is three layers. Wonderful layers, but very dense. Almost like fudge. Mmm, fudge. I am an anal freak, bordering on Rain Man precision, when it comes to following recipes but for whatever reason I thought the actual cake would be a bit spongy-er. (that can to be a word).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tu1miUZtwXo5tFzNCdJPHDFWtJnpHZDvWPQYNUypBDThYFnSAxLSm8xSIfVlDg9W7f6fCHFFP5cd95F1Qy7SqkyP6Ry6XCmnLERNPbic3qcE4rO4UJl2OTFwSYV-QNvt5VQRv05NpGc5/s1600/PC312894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tu1miUZtwXo5tFzNCdJPHDFWtJnpHZDvWPQYNUypBDThYFnSAxLSm8xSIfVlDg9W7f6fCHFFP5cd95F1Qy7SqkyP6Ry6XCmnLERNPbic3qcE4rO4UJl2OTFwSYV-QNvt5VQRv05NpGc5/s320/PC312894.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> 4. <b>Feeds an army...or 18-20</b>. Wait, what? Had I noticed the small print that says serves 18-20 I might have rethought the whole thing. But as Dr. Phil would say - lets get real - is there ever too much chocolate cake? Turns out the answer to that is yes. A little piece of this goes along way. It is rather tasty, but be sure to enjoy it with your entire neighborhood, church or office...or friends (if you are that popular).<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLYAM9nfa2pCSGy73kGpnSJH32HJ7ltmmjuF7yU6Rj1xYWMYOWEF0kKkdzaqDsFmqUdLLVGiGDjqfIeUD3Vb7RlH30ai2NKkMCgFHNq1pJqq15jWjk6cOgyvWwZs2VobikjV5mnXLeLwJ/s1600/PC312896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLYAM9nfa2pCSGy73kGpnSJH32HJ7ltmmjuF7yU6Rj1xYWMYOWEF0kKkdzaqDsFmqUdLLVGiGDjqfIeUD3Vb7RlH30ai2NKkMCgFHNq1pJqq15jWjk6cOgyvWwZs2VobikjV5mnXLeLwJ/s320/PC312896.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />With all of that said, it <i>was</i> a fun family baking activity. And a tasty treat.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktvCPX-9XapmdDWBBbBd6Vtth0JSC0Z2Y0Rr__msAHxGYdCwpWzJ1tzpKZhmM246jkXXjlgV0biz1ZBeGc4Vqw96HsefAFvjlzioINY9n9xWKl8CH9voS5alUAzvAZgtdpW0oBJW9FIJn/s1600/PC312899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktvCPX-9XapmdDWBBbBd6Vtth0JSC0Z2Y0Rr__msAHxGYdCwpWzJ1tzpKZhmM246jkXXjlgV0biz1ZBeGc4Vqw96HsefAFvjlzioINY9n9xWKl8CH9voS5alUAzvAZgtdpW0oBJW9FIJn/s320/PC312899.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> <br />We finally finished the last piece...yesterday.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjIuqSv001w1Jsg1jNreMk-5ztb2rTjHQ35oQILeYZUfteBw0y32AcKNQ6NW5D8-ki8EflDIM5uopWma-_jkJZoX_t6-UfemlAegTNnDWL1kNlhT0hpXB196K9BKoAjBAkVho0W7jnHaJZ/s1600/PC312902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjIuqSv001w1Jsg1jNreMk-5ztb2rTjHQ35oQILeYZUfteBw0y32AcKNQ6NW5D8-ki8EflDIM5uopWma-_jkJZoX_t6-UfemlAegTNnDWL1kNlhT0hpXB196K9BKoAjBAkVho0W7jnHaJZ/s320/PC312902.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />

minty fresh

What do you bring over to your dear friends' house that will go well with champaign (New Years Eve champaign) and also make 5 kids under...

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