Fudgy Peppermint Truffle Chocolate Cake

Fudgy Peppermint Truffle Chocolate Cake

It's the holidays, so I turned to the Pillsbury® Calendar that my co-worker Karen gave me. I decided to make the December recipe. There were a few flaws but I'm sure that was because of my silly mistakes. I'm not a big chocolate cake fan, but it turned out good! The cake batter had a mousse like consistency. Very thick. Maybe I used the beaters too long or on too high of

a speed? I think that because the cake batter was so thick, the chocolate truffle part didn't sink to the middle of the cake like it should have. It ended up staying towards the bottom of the cake.

The cake did seem a little dry to me, but it was still good though!

When it came time to make the icing, I didn't follow the directions correctly. I couldn't figure out why it was so thick. I even used the 2 Tablespoons of milk and it didn't thin out. Well, it turned out that I used a whole 8oz block of cream cheese instead of just 1 ½ oz! Oops! I was able to thin it out just enough so that it would run a little bit. Also, I added the chopped up peppermints (I used a candy cane) and it looked so pretty! The next morning when I pulled it out of the refrigerator, the candy had "melted" and didn't look as pretty.

It was a hit though. Everyone liked it. I'd also have to add the it smelled delicious while it was in the oven. Chocolate and mint...yum!!!!

12 Servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Start to Finish: 2 hours 20 minutes

Filling

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz.)

⅔ cup sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

½ teaspoon peppermint extract

Cake

1 box (1 lb. 2.25 oz) devil's food cake mix with pudding

1 container (8 oz.) fat-free sour cream

⅓ cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Icing

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 ½ oz. cream cheese, softened

1 to 2 Tablespoons milk

6 hard peppermint candies, finely crushed

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening; lightly flour. In medium microwavable bowl, microwave filling ingredients on High 30 seconds . Stir until melted and smooth (if necessary, microwave 10 to 20 seconds longer); set aside.

2. In large bowl, mix cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until combined; beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon batter evenly into pan. Drop spoonfuls of filling over batter, keeping filling away from side of pan.

3. Bake 35-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean and edge begins to pull away from side of pan. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Place wire rack upside down over pan; turn rack and pan over. Remove pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour (center of cake may sink slightly during cooling.)

4. In medium bowl, beat powdered sugar, cream cheese and 1 Tablespoon of the milk with wire whisk until smooth, adding additional milk until desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle icing over cooled cake; sprinkle with crushed candies. Store in refrigerator.


High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 375°F. For cake, add 2 Tablespoons flour to dry cake mix, decrease oil to ¼ cup and increase eggs to 4.

Baking Tip: A pastry brush is ideal for greasing the grooves of a fluted tube pan.