JUNE 2006 IN THE KITCHEN ARTICLE

THE SWEET SIDE OF HERBS

To celebrate In The Kitchen’s 6th birthday I wanted to come up with a showstopper herbal dessert, and this cake certainly fits the bill. I tried this recipe from Herb Companion magazine years ago and it’s a great example of how fresh herbs can bring bright flavors to baked goods.

Happy birthday, In The Kitchen!

Buttermilk Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Mint:

(Reprinted with permission from Herb Companion magazine, Oct/Nov ‘98)

This layer cake is fudgy, moist and minty, with a minted chocolate buttercream. Garnish the top with fresh or candied mint leaves.

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cups sugar
4 extra- large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 squares (2 oz.) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup whole milk steeped with 1 cup packed fresh chocolate mint or peppermint leaves (see Invisible Herbs, below)
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup chopped fresh chocolate mint or peppermint leaves
Chocolate Mint Buttercream (see below)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease two 9- inch cake pans, line the bottoms with a circle of waxed paper, and lightly dust with flour. Sift the flour with the cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the butter. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and blend well, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir half of the chocolate mint milk (see Invisible Herbs, below) into the buttermilk, reserving the remainder for the buttercream. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the contents of the mixing bowl in stages and blend well, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Fold in the chopped fresh mint.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake starts to pull away slightly from the sides of the pan. Cool the pans on a rack for 10 minutes then turn the cake layers out of the pans. Peel off the waxed paper and place the layers right side up to cool. When cool, assemble the cake with the Chocolate Mint Buttercream (below), spreading it evenly on the tops and sides of both layers.

Chocolate Mint Buttercream:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 squares (2oz) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 pound confectioners’ sugar
Reserved chocolate mint milk

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the butter until fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and blend well. Add the confectioners’ sugar a cup at a time, alternating with 1 or 2 tablespoons of the chocolate mint milk, using only enough milk to make a spreadable icing (4 to 6 tablespoons). Save the rest of the milk for another recipe (it’s great in coffee!).

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Invisible Herbs

For a fresh herbal flavor in baked goods, you can steep, or gently heat, herbs in whatever liquid is included in the recipe, whether it is water, juice, liquor or milk. I use a basic 1:1 ratio of liquid to herbs in most recipes unless a more subtle herbal flavor is desired; then a ratio of one part liquid to ½ part herbs can be used.

For this recipe, one cup (packed) fresh chocolate mint or peppermint leaves will flavor one cup of milk. Heat the milk and leaves gently in a nonreactive saucepan, using the back of a spoon to bruise the leaves. Do not allow the milk to boil. As soon as the milk begins to bubble around the edges, remove the pan from the heat and allow the milk to cool to room temperature.

Set a small strainer over a bowl and strain the mint from the milk, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. You can prepare the milk 2 days ahead and refrigerate it, covered, until ready to use.

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