This recipe for mint chocolate cake is based on the chocolate mayonnaise cake already on my site. While the modifications to the original cake are minimal, adding just a touch of mint oil changes the entire character of the cake, so I felt it needed its own post.
Don’t miss the frosting either. Swiss mint buttercream is perfect on this cake, but would also be wonderful on any chocolate or vanilla cake, or whenever a little shot of mint would be welcome.
For ease of browsing, here are all of my cake recipes. Thanks for stopping by!
Watch my easy chocolate mint cake web story here.
Why Not a Layer Cake?
Hey, I love a good layer cake. I’m all about a beautiful 3-layered red velvet cake or even a birthday ice cream cake, but sometimes, sheet cake is what is needed because it is:
- Easy to make–no dividing the batter between pans
- No turning out of the pan
- No stacking or icing the sides
- Takes less time
Mint Oil or Mint Extract?
This is a personal preference, but I like to stick to mint oil. Mainly because the mint flavor is extremely pure and concentrated so you only need a few drops to get wonderful mint flavor.
Pastry Chef Online Participates in Affiliate Programs. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I may earn a small commission. For more information click to read my disclosure policy
If all you have is mint extract, expect to need 1/2 to 1 teaspoon to get a nice mint flavor to shine through the chocolate.
If you use mint oil, you will only need maybe 4-6 drops.
What If I Want to Make a Layer Cake?
Oh, you absolutely can turn this into a layer cake by baking the batter in 2 8″ cake pans as opposed to 1 9″x 13″ pan.
Baking time will probably be reduced by about 10 minutes.
What Mixing Method Do You Use?
While the vast majority of American-style cakes are made using The Creaming Method–cream butter and sugar, add eggs 1 at a time, alternate wet and dry, beginning and ending with wet–the mixing method for this cake is a little bit harder to classify.
The first step in making this cake is to whip eggs and sugar together, which is also how the egg foam method starts.
Then, you beat in the fat (mayonnaise, in this case), and lastly, you alternated dry-wet-dry-wet-dry ingredients.
So I’m not sure there is one mixing method that this mint chocolate cake really falls under. It’s sort of a hybrid between the egg foam method and the creaming method.
What’s the Texture?
The wonderful news about this cake is that it is super moist and stays that way for days.
It’s the kind of cake where, if crumbs fall off, you can pick them up by pressing down on them with the back of your fork. Fudgy.
And because it is not a butter cake, it stays nice and soft in the fridge, too.
The crumb is not too tight, is very even, and slices beautifully.
Pro Tips
You can either frost and serve the cake straight from the pan, or you can turn it out so you can frost the sides, too. If you do turn it out onto a cooling rack, place another cooling rack on top and carefully flip everything so the cake can cool upright.
If you don’t have a
More Easy Cake Recipes
My most recent favorite easy cake is my butterscotch sheetcake. It’s a wacky cake, so it doesn’t contain eggs. It’s also a lovely, moist cake, so you may want to give it a try.
If you’re a pound cake fan, consider taking my brown sugar cinnamon pound cake for a spin. Wonderful flavor and a dreamy glaze too.
This chocolate stout cake is also excellent. It’s pretty much a one-bowl cake, and you can pair with with the burnt caramel buttercream or go with a cream cheese frosting with a touch of Bailey’s in it for some kick.
About the Video
The video for this recipe is a live video, so it’s long–maybe 22-23 minutes long.
It takes you through the whole process of mixing the batter, showing what the ribbon stage looks like, and all the steps you need to take.
While a “hands in pans” video is fun to watch and doesn’t take up much of your time, I think a real-time video best shows how to make something, what the batter should look like, etc.
If you do not want to watch the whole thing or don’t need to, you can always skip forward. But if you have any questions about making the batter, watching the whole video will be helpful.
If you do have some questions after watching the video, I’m only an email away, and I will respond and help you. Promise.
A Note About Measurements
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
I really hope you love chocolate mint cake, you guys!
It will help me and other readers so much if you take a moment to rate and leave a review for this recipe.
You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.
Other ways to share include pinning, and/or sharing on your favorite social media platform.
Thank you so much for taking the time!
Mint Chocolate Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 280 grams 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 60 grams 3/4 cup American cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 400 grams 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 240 grams 1 cup full fat mayonnaise
- 4-6 drops peppermint oil or 1/2-1 teaspoon of peppermint extract depending on how strong a mint flavor you want
- 320 milliliters 1 1/3 cup boiling water, (1 1/3 cup)
Instructions
- Position your oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 350F. Spray a 9"x13" rectangular cake pan with pan spray. Set aside.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and eggs on medium high speed until they reach the ribbon stage, about 5 minutes.
- Add the mayonnaise and mint oil or extract, and beat until smooth, scraping the bowl as necessary.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the sifted dry ingredients in three additions with the boiling water in two additions. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. Scrape bowl as necessary.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed in the center, the edges are just starting to shrink from the sides of the pan, and the internal temperature of the cake is between 195F and 200F.
- Remove to a rack to cool completely.
- Frost with your favorite frosting, but man is this good with mint Swiss buttercream!
Did You Make Any Changes?
Video
Notes
Nutrition
And there you have it, friends. I hope you enjoy this minty chocolate cake as much as I do!
Thanks for spending some time with me today. Take care, and have a lovely day.
Hi, y’all! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and hopefully also learned a thing or two.
If you like my style, I invite you to sign up for my occasional newsletter, The Inbox Pastry Chef.
Expect updates on new and tasty recipes as well as a bit of behind-the-scenes action. I hope to see you there!
Join in Today!
I just love the pairing of the light colored frosting against the rich chocolate cake both flavor-wise and visually. This is a knockout Jenni!
Aw, thanks Beth! It all started with wanting to make some buttercream, spying the mint oil, and then just going from there! lol
OMG I have been drooling over this cake since I saw you working on it. I love the minty frosting.
Thank you! The frosting really turned out so great–like a melted buttermint! 🙂