Peppermint Bark Brownie Cake

 

Makes one three layer, 6 inch cake 

 

Brownie Cake

250g (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup (125g) cocoa powder, sifted

250g (9oz) good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped

5 large eggs

1 2/3 cup (320g) sugar

1 tsp (5ml) vanilla paste or extract

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup (95g) all purpose flour

1 tsp (4g) baking powder

 

White Italian buttercream

2 Tbsp (30ml) water

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

80g egg whites

2 Tbsp (25g) sugar

1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

 

Red Italian buttercream

1 Tbsp (15ml) water

1 Tbsp (15ml) red gel food colouring

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

80g egg whites

2 Tbsp (25g) Sugar

1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

 

Assembly

1 box Williams-sonoma peppermint bark, crushed and in shards

 

Directions:

 

BROWNIE CAKE

Preheat the oven to 350f/180c. Grease three 6 inch cake tins well with butter and set aside.

 

In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the sifted cocoa and mix until smooth. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix on medium-high for approximately 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add flour and baking powder, and the cooled chocolate mixture, and fold carefully until incorporated.

 

Divide the mixture between the three pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the sides are just set and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tins and then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely. Level the tops with a large serrated knife or a cake leveler.

 

BUTTERCREAM

 

Place the 1/2 cup of sugar and water in a small pot, and heat over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Continue to heat until it reaches 245f/120c on a candy thermometer.

 

While the sugar syrup is heating, place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip the egg whites on high until foamy, then sprinkle in the 2 Tbsp of sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.

 

When the syrup is ready, with the mixer on high, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the meringue in a steady stream. Mix on high for 10-15 minutes until the outside of the bowl is no longer warm to the touch.

 

Lower the mixer speed to medium. Add the butter a cube at a time, until it has all been added. Continue to mix the buttercream for an additional 1-2 minutes. It may look as if the mixture is too runny, but just keep beating - it will come together! Transfer to a bowl.

 

Repeat the process for the red buttercream, using the gel food colouring in with the water and sugar for the syrup.

 

ASSEMBLY

Place the first of the leveled cakes on a turntable. Spread an even layer of white buttercream over the top of the layer, and sprinkle over a handful of crushed peppermint bark. Place the second layer on top, and repeat the process. Place the final layer of cake on and ensure that the layers are even and level. Coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream to act as a crumb coat. Chill for approximately an hour to let the crumb coat set.

 

Fill two piping bags fitted with a round attachment (I used an Ateco #805) with the red and white buttercream. Mark a number of vertical lines around your cake to act as a guide. For the first line, pipe alternating dots of red and white buttercream up the side of the cake. Use an offset spatula or spoon to carefully smear the blobs, wiping the spatula well between each dot. Repeat for the next line, reversing the order (so a white smeared dot will have a red dot piped onto it, and so forth), piping a dot onto the tail of the last smeared dot to create a checkerboard pattern.

 

Repeat the process until the whole cake is finished, finishing the pattern with a line of non-smeared dots.

 

Decorate the top of the cake with shards of peppermint bark.