This peppermint bark chocolate cake is a delicious fun treat for the holidays. A single layer chocolate semi-sweet cake loaded with mini dark chocolate chips topped with a homemade light whipped white chocolate ganache and broken peppermint bark. Ideal for hosting.
Get ready to impress. The cake is a dense chocolate cake that is not overly sweet. The white chocolate ganache is a light and airy, sweet topping that really hits the spot. The broken peppermint bark really makes it ready for the holidays.
Peppermint Bark
You can find peppermint bark anywhere. I’ve tested this recipe with William Sonoma and Ghirardelli brands, they both work well. Ghirardelli is a little easier to find in the grocery store but I think William Sonoma’s seasonal peppermint bark is a little better quality.
Whipped White Chocolate Ganache
Guys this is the most incredible cake topping and totally worth making! It’s light and airy, sweet and gorgeous. Ganache is a creamy velvety mixture of chocolate and cream used for cake filings, frosting and more. It is made by warming up the cream and melting the chocolate into it.
Known as a ratio recipe, the amount of chocolate to cream will determine the consistency of your ganache. For this recipe I used a 1:1 ratio, 4 oz of cream to 4oz of white chocolate.
Once the ganache is melted and cooled it will be slowly whipped with more whipping cream until it’s a soft peak to create the most luxurious whipped white chocolate ganache.
Peppermint Bark Chocolate Cake – Some Important Ingredients to Note
This recipe calls for a few ingredients that may throw a curve ball, but they can all be found in the grocery store when you know what to look for. I’m not working with brands on this recipe, these are all tried and true recommendations.
Unsweetened Baking Cocoa, this can be found at the grocery store in the baking section, it’s a bitter unsweetened cocoa powder. Most commonly seen is Hershey brand, I used the Ghirardelli.
Instant Espresso, the goal is to use something that dissolves easily in liquid. It is important to use instant, not a ground bean.
Chocolate Chips, add a little extra to the dense semi-sweet cake. I like to use mini chocolate chips if you can find them, otherwise regular chocolate chips work too! They add an extra bite of gooey sweetness. You can use milk or dark chocolate for extra richness.
If you Read Nothing Else
Read this for the perfectly dense single – layer chocolate cake. The technique is to fold together the ingredients.
There will be two bowls – one with the measured out dry ingredients, another for the wet ingredients and a measuring cup with 3/4 cup of milk at room temperature.
The goal is to fold the flour and milk into the wet ingredients to prevent over mixing, using a spatula, scoop up from the bottom rather than stirring.
Eye-ball-divide your flour mixture into thirds, you will alternate folding in your flour and milk, twice and ending with the third part dry ingredients.
With that in mind:
Add 1/3 of your flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients, and fold in, pulling from the bottom of the bowl. Just before the flour is completely combined, pour in half of the milk and fold. Just before the milk is completely combined, fold in another 1/3 of your flour. Repeat with the remaining milk and flour. It will be thick, gently stir in the chocolate chips.
If you want to see this in action I have step by step photos with my Peanut Butter Apple Cake.
The How-To Cut Parchment Paper for Circle Cake Pans
To pop a cooled cake out of the pan easily without leaving any on the bottom of the pan, you will want to use a piece of parchment paper on the bottom on the cake pan. When it’s a circle pan, that can be a little difficult to cut in the correct shape without frustration. Here is the trick, it starts out much like making a paper snowflake, which we are doing a lot of these days.
1. Take a piece of parchment paper and fold in half.
2. Fold that in half again
3. Making sure to keep the “folded” corner (near my pinkie in the photo) and fold over the bottom corner over to create a triangle.
4. Hold the “folded” corner up to the center of the circle pan
5. Then cut the parchment paper where it meets the edge.
6. Open the parchment paper, it should fit the bottom of the cake pan. It’s okay if it’s a little smaller.
7. Spray the pan with non-stick spray, lay the parchment paper down and give it another light spray
8. Bake the cake, let it cool, flip it out of the cake pan and pull off the parchment paper before decorating.
Serve Immediately or Prep Ahead
This cake is one of those that is best served immediately however there are ways to prep ahead and store for later.
If you want to make the cake ahead of time, for the best results, you can bake the cake and make the white chocolate ganache 24 hours in advance. One the cake it baked, let it cool. then tightly wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
When you are ready to serve, there is a little bit of prep time. Using the recipe below, whip the white chocolate ganache with the heavy cream. Unwrap the cake and top it with the whipped white chocolate ganache. I like to loosely spread it across the top allowing it to spill over onto the side of the cake. Top that with broken peppermint bark and serve.
If you have leftover cake, and that’s a big if. Make sure to cover it with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. The cake will dry out a little bit once cut but it’s still okay the next day.
Peppermint Bark Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Whipped White Chocolate Ganache
- 4 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
- 4 oz White Baking Chocolate
- 8 oz Heavy Whipping Cream at room temperature
- ? tsp Salt
Single Layer Chocolate Cake
- 1 cup All purpose flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 6 TBSP Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 TBSP Ground Instant Espresso
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¾ cup Milk at room temperature 1%, 2% or Whole Milk
- 1 cup Chocolate Chips Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate
Peppermint Bark
- 7 oz Peppermint Bark
Instructions
- Make the White Chocolate Ganache: In a small saucepan over medium low heat, add 4oz (1/2 cup) of Heavy Whipping Cream. Heat it until hot to touch, but not boiling. Remove from heat and immediately add in the 4 oz of white chocolate. Stir until it is fully melted without and lumps. Pour the white chocolate ganache into a bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour (while you make your cake and it has time to cool).4 oz Heavy Whipping Cream, 4 oz White Baking Chocolate
- Pour the white chocolate ganache into a bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Spray your 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray and place a piece of parchment paper on the cake pan, lightly spray again.
- Prepare the Cake: In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, espresso, and salt, set aside.1 cup All purpose flour, 2 tsp Baking Powder, 6 TBSP Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, 2 TBSP Ground Instant Espresso, ¼ tsp Salt
- Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream together the butter, and sugar until it's smooth, fluffy and a pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix together until it is fully incorporated.½ cup Butter at room temperature, ¾ cup Sugar, 1 Egg, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Divide your flour mixture into thirds and the milk into half. You will want to alternate folding in your flour and milk into the butter and sugar mixture, ending with flour, see blog for additional notes. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.¾ cup Milk at room temperature, 1 cup Chocolate Chips
- Add the cake batter into the prepared pan, spread around so that it is even. Drop the pan once or twice onto the counter to let the batter even out.
- Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let is cool on a wire rack. Once cool, turn the pan upside down and pop it out of the cake pan (optional).
- Finish the Whipped White Chocolate Ganache: Take the cooled white chocolate ganache out of the fridge. Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or a hand mixer, whip the white chocolate ganache until it starts to thicken, with the mixer on low, slowly pour in the remaining 8oz (1 cup) of heavy cream and a pinch of salt. Once all of the cream has been added, turn the mixer on medium-high until it forms a medium soft peak.8 oz Heavy Whipping Cream at room temperature, ? tsp Salt
- Pour the whipped white chocolate ganache over the top of the cake and spread it around carefully so that it keeps its perfectly airy fluff. Loosely spread it across the top allowing it to spill over onto the side of the cake
- Put the peppermint bark into a large zip lock bag and with a rolling pin, hit it to break it up into pieces. Top the cake with all of the broken peppermint bark.7 oz Peppermint Bark
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