White Peppermint Cake

this white peppermint cake has peppermint bark baked into the cake, and peppermint swiss meringue buttercream in between the layers.

there's 9 days left until The Big Day, but i think i'm finally in the mood. there was a stroll through the local park featuring trees decorated by community orgs, there's decorations (3 year old me opted to add pebbles to her paper plate ornament) on something green in the living room, there was time spent at a housewarming/holiday party (i might have worn all black, save for last minute fuzzy red socks).

so how about some white peppermint cake? i've gone with my favorite 6.5" sized cake (double it and you've got an 8" layer cake). it's a vanilla cake studded with peppermint bark bits, layered with coffee simple syrup (if you want) and peppermint swiss meringue buttercream.

this cake got decorated with a mini gingerbread house (from a village transported from target's shelves to my kitchen table), some rosemary sprigs, ground coconut and powdered sugar a la a cozy kitchen. that village was more stress inducing than it was worth (the pieces were baked together, and they kept breaking when i *gently* tried to pry them apart), so you might want to go with these mini gingerbread houses from not martha. it's been 3 years since i tried using her instructions (see here), though they were surprisingly (and thankfully) uneventful to create. you can decorate the cake with whatever you like; however, have you ever seen such a cute white peppermint cake? i don't want to sound presumptuous, but i think not.

1 year ago: cherry almond croquant, furikake chex mix
2 years ago: snickerdoodles
3 years ago: coffee almond shortbread cookies, pumpkin spice waffles
4 years ago: zha jiang mian
5 years ago: on toast, applesauce granola

5 from 2 votes

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White Peppermint Cake

Prep Time

50 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Decoration Time

30 mins

Total Time

1 hr 25 mins

 

This white peppermint cake is mostly peppermint (both the cake layers and the buttercream), but there's a hint of coffee from the simple syrup!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: buttercream, cake, christmas, coffee, dessert, gingerbread, holidays, layer cake, mint, mint chocolate, nut-free, peppermint, vegetarian

Servings: 12 people

Calories: 403 kcal

Ingredients

Peppermint Bark Cake

• ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large egg room temperature
• ½ cup buttermilk room temperature
• ¼ teaspoon flavorless oil like canola
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅜ cup boiling water
• ½ cup chopped peppermint bark

Coffee Simple Syrup

• ¼ cup brewed strong coffee
• ¼ cup granulated sugar

Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 2 large egg whites
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter room temperature, cut into tablespoons
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract

Instructions

Peppermint Bark Cake

1. Grease two 6.5-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients except for the boiling water. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then stir in the boiling water (it will be a very thin batter). Mix in the peppermint bark. Pour into cake pans.
3. Bake at 350F for 25-28 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
4. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then turn onto a cooling rack.

Coffee Simple Syrup

1. Combine the coffee and sugar in a small saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and boil until reduced, 5-10 minutes. Cool completely.

Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1. In the heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, combine egg whites and sugar. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch.
2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until it holds stiff (but not dry) peaks, fluffy and cooled.
3. Switch to the paddle attachment. Add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and peppermint until smooth.

Recipe Notes

Cake from My Name is Yeh, buttercream adapted slightly from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.

Double everything if you want an 8" round layer cake!