Minty Devil’s Food Bundt Cake

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Normally, I hate the idea of Valentine’s Day. It feels like a whole lot of pressure to PROVE you love someone, when I’d rather just show it in little ways every day. But now the day is here, and I’m just filled with so much love for everyone! I’m bad with presents, but if you’re reading this, I got you something really good: this recipe for the chocolate cake to end all chocolate cakes.

The last time I made this cake, we got hit with a Snowpocalypse that ended up shutting me, my boyfriend, and our friends inside. We had a big three-day long sleepover, in which we played too much Mario Kart and ate way too much of this cake. Sometimes I wonder how I got to be the shape that I am, and then I remember times like that…

Yeah, I really shouldn’t be surprised.

BUT, the great thing about Valentine’s Day (as with all holidays) is that calories don’t matter! Your body looks at Valentine’s candy and desserts and says “Wow I’m so filled with love right now, I’m not even going to count this one against you.” Or something like that. So take full advantage of this window of opportunity, and bake  yourself and your loved ones this cake immediately! Just make sure you have someone to pass the leftovers on to, because I’m pretty sure the whole “no calories” thing is restricted to Feb. 14th. Don’t quote me on it, I’m just theorizing here.

Last time I made this cake, I made it from scratch because that’s what the recipe called for. This time, I meant to make this cake a month ago and bought devil’s food cake mix, because for some reason I thought that the recipe called for it. After looking at the recipe last night and realizing it was actually from scratch, I said screw it and used the mix anyways. I mean what else was I going to do with it, make ANOTHER cake? (Probably yes, which is why it had to go.) So yeah, I’m no Martha Stewart, but the cake tastes pretty dang good anyways.

The real star of this cake is the chocolate ganache on top. I’ve made ganache before in the past, and it always ended up taking 10 minutes and being super messy. I was hesitant to try it in the microwave this time, but I’m pleased to say that it worked like a charm without burning the chocolate one bit! Basically what I’m trying to say is, between the cake mix and the microwaveable ganache, I’ve tried to make this cake as simple for you as possible. You’re welcome.

I hope you have lots of love in your life and enjoy all the sweets you want this V-Day – you deserve it!

Minty Devil's Food Bundt Cake

A rich chocolate cake with a ring of minty cream cheese baked inside, topped with a luscious dark chocolate ganache.

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 2 hrs 15 mins

Servings 12 slices

Ingredients

  

For the cake

• 1 box Devil's Food cake mix (plus the ingredients to prepare it - usually eggs, oil, and water)
• 1 box chocolate pudding mix
• 1/4 cup chocolate chunks

For the cream cheese mixture

• 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. flour
• food coloring of your choice (I prefer gel to liquid, as liquid can change the consistency of the mixture)

For the ganache

• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate morsels

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and prepare a bundt pan (I prefer using butter and flour, but if you use spray make sure to coat the inside well). Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, ingredients called for on the box, and pudding mix (yes, you should add this even if there's pudding mix already in the cake mix - we want this sinfully chocolatey, y'hear?). Mix well and pour into the prepared bundt pan.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar for one minute. Add the egg and peppermint extract, then beat until combined. Add the flour and as much food coloring as you like, then mix together until the coloring is well blended. Pour this mixture on top of the cake batter in the pan. Sprinkle chocolate chunks all over the batter.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean of cake (it's ok if the cream cheese mixture sticks to it a bit). Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then carefully turn it out onto a wire rack and cool for 30 more.
• For the ganache, combine the heavy cream and dark chocolate morsels in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds, stir to combine, and microwave for 15 more seconds if necessary. Stir vigorously to combine the melted chocolate with the cream until the mixture is thickened, then pour over the cake. Slice immediately and enjoy!

Notes

• Recipe is heavily adapted from this one.
• You can use any food coloring you want for different occasions! Last time I used green to make it look like a giant Andes mint cake, but this time I gave it a reddish-pink tinge to compliment Valentine's Day.
• I'm all for making things as healthy as possible, but try to go for regular cream cheese. I tried it with Greek yogurt cream cheese, and it gave the overall mixture a tartness that I wasn't expecting.