Name: Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Stracciatella Buttercream
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 9 Squares
Ingredients: 1 cup Sugar (white or cane); 3/4 cup + 2 TB All-Purpose Flour; 1/4 cup + 2 TB Cocoa Powder (unsweetened); 3/4 tsp Baking Soda; 3/4 tsp Baking Powder; 1/2 tsp Salt; 1 Egg (large); 1/2 cup Milk; 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil (I use Avocado Oil); 1 tsp Vanilla Extract; 1/2 cup Coffee or Water (boiling); 1/2 cup Butter (softened to room temp); 2 1/2 cups Confectioners Sugar; 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract; 1/4-1/2 tsp Peppermint Extract (add a little at a time to taste); 5-6 tsp Milk; a pinch of Salt; 3 TB Semi-Sweet or Dark Baking Chocolate (chopped)

Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something; this is at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting Flour & Floral!

Here you’ll find the recipe for a moist one-layer Chocolate Cake, smothered in a Peppermint Stracciatella Buttercream, laced with chocolate flakes. Top this decadent dessert with crushed peppermint candy canes for even more minty deliciousness!

Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Stracciatella Buttercream

What is Stracciatella?

Stracciatella is an Italian term that actually has THREE very different meanings:

A soup containing eggs and cheese
A stringy cheese.
And my personal favourite: a vanilla ice cream with flakes of chocolate in it.

Obviously this Chocolate Cake recipe has nothing to do with the former two but everything to do with the third one.

My first taste of this glorious thing called Stracciatella began on my second trip to Germany. If you’ve ever been to Europe, you know that there’s gelato shops EVERYWHERE and they display their assortment of gelatos in such a beautiful, enticing way too. (Gets me everytime!)

Peppermint Goodness

My FAVOURITE Flavour extract company, Nielsen-Massey sent me their holiday extract bundle to use for all of my Christmas baking. One of these extracts was a peppermint extract–now I had never baked with peppermint in my life so I was intrigued.

Peppermint anything and everything is such a popular flavour this time of year–especially with all of the candy canes around us. Peppermint drinks (Starbucks heyyyy), candies, chocolates, and of course, DESSERTS. I wanted to come up with the perfect peppermint dessert.

I essentially owe this Peppermint Stracciatella dessert to my sister, who helped me brainstorm the idea. Obviously I needed help since I’m a peppermint no0b (old school gamer language–where are my gamers at?!). I even wanted to call this dessert “The Kristina” but I figured it would confuse alot of people and nobody would have a clue what flavour this cake actually was!

So, thanks Kristina!

Stracciatella Buttercream

When my sister sister told me she had a taste of a delicious Mint Stracciatella gelato the other day, I knew that a Peppermint Straciatella Buttercream HAD to happen. And since I have the BEST chocolate cake recipe on the planet, I knew that the buttercream had to be smothered onto that cake. Because we all know that chocolate and peppermint are a match made in Heaven!

This Peppermint Stracciatella Buttercream is essentially a fancy way of saying “Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream”. Except instead of ice cream, it’s a buttery and sweet buttercream with notes of vanilla and peppermint. And instead of chocolate chips, it’s laced with chopped up/flaked semi-sweet chocolate.

I can’t even tell you how pleased I am with how this recipe turned out. I really didn’t think I would fall in love with it as much as I did, you know, because I constantly have lemon-blueberry desserts on the mind. But this Chocolate Peppermint Stracciatella combo really takes the cake and it’s just so perfect for the Christmas season!

Notes On Baking The Cake:

Bake a Layer Cake Instead:

This one-layer chocolate cake recipe gets baked in an 8×8 (square) pan and makes about 9 evenly sized squares. It’s the perfect dessert for a small get together. If you’re more interested in layer cakes, simply double this recipe and prepare two 8×8 square pans OR two 9″ round cake pans. Easy as cake!

For the Chocolate Flakes:

To create “chocolate flakes” I just took a few pieces from a semi-sweet baking chocolate bar, placed it on a cutting board, and chopped the chocolate with a sharp chef knife.

To make Crushed Candy Canes:

Put a couple of peppermint candy canes in a ziplock bag, and start pounding the bag with a heavy object. I like to use my marble rolling pin. It works like a charm with anything candy you need to crush.

I hope y’all enjoy this baking this cake AND eating it as much as I did–I’m seriously in love with it. Share it with all your friends and family this Christmas. Merry Christmas, friends!

Print This Recipe