Historically, I haven’t been a big mint person. I mean, it’s nice as a flavor and all, but I just haven’t really gone out of my way to incorporate mint into my own baking.
But then I ran across this recipe for a mint chocolate chip cake. It’s supposed to remind you of mint chocolate chip ice cream. And I do like mint chocolate chip ice cream, even if I don’t go out of my way to get that flavor most of the time. So I had to try it.
Did you ever think about how mint chocolate chip came to be? I mean, who would’ve thought to combine the soothing flavor of fresh mint with chocolate chips? Well, I sure wouldn’t have. But the first two people, they may have a story…
California, 1953
The mint on Kevin’s farm was growing splendidly. As a second-generation mint farmer, he had learned the tricks of the trade from his father. His father, Joseph, had started the mint farm after his own father, Yasunari, had passed away.
Yasunari had immigrated from Japan in the early 1900s, seeking a better life for himself and his wife. Shortly after arriving in the States, his wife gave birth to twin sons: Joseph and John. Tragically, his wife passed away during a difficult childbirth, and John died a year later from an infection. Joseph was the one constant in Yasunari’s life. He worked hard to support him. Right up to the day he died.
Joseph, grieving the death of the father he loved so much, had a vivid dream. A field full of vibrant, green mint leaves. That fresh, clean taste he had grown to love in mint tea. He could grow a field of the plant, and with the booming toothpaste industry, become a profitable mint farmer.
And so Joseph set out to grow his mint farm. He found a plot of land with partial shade, ideal for growing the mint plant. Within months, rows and rows of the bright green leaves had popped up, sometimes releasing a faint scent of freshness when he walked by.
Soon, he was married to another nisei, and she gave birth to a son, Kevin. Father and son were very close, spending lots of time together. The elder taught the younger the ways of mint farming, and the son grew to love the craft.
Although he and his father endured some dark times during the internment, in the years since, Kevin’s mint farm had grown to be a successful one. His mint plants were shipped all over the country. He had poured his heart and soul into his work. He had little time for anything else.
One day, he was taking a walk to the nearby town. Kevin always made a point to pass by the chocolate shop, not because he had a particular liking for chocolate, but because he found the owner, Christine, to be quite attractive. Christine, another sansei, had flirted with him on a few occasions. Even went out to dinner with him. But he wanted more. More than just the casual kisses on the cheek.
Like he had done many times before, he opened the door and smiled at Christine. “Back for some more chocolate?” asked Christine playfully, as she flipped her hair in that way that made Kevin’s heart beat just a little faster.
“I can never get enough of your chocolate, Christine,” Kevin replied, even though he didn’t even finish all the chocolate she kept giving him. He didn’t care. Food is the way to a woman’s heart, right? Wait, maybe this would work better if he were the one giving her the food, not the other way around.
Christine pulled out a bag of chocolate chips from behind the counter. “I’ve been saving these just for you,” she said with a wink. Those heavenly lashes sitting on top of her perfectly almond-shaped eyes. Kevin could feel the moisture in his front.
“Do you wanna come over?” Kevin asked, finally taking the direct route after mustering up the courage.
“Sure!” Christine responded cheerfully. But not too cheerfully, she had to tell herself. She couldn’t appear too desperate to see what was under those tight shirts Kevin always wore. Today might be the day. Mist was developing between her legs.
She wore a yellow dress with a matching hat to shield her face from the harsh rays of the sun. She was positively radiant. As radiant as a woman of thirty years could be without being pregnant. When she walked into Kevin’s house, it was all he could do to not suffocate from his breath being taken away. But he kept his composure.
Kevin was wearing a black, short-sleeved shirt that showed off his well-developed, tanned arms. How she wished she could just rip that shirt off of him this instant. “Want some ice cream?” Kevin offered. It was a hot day, and he thought that would really hit the spot.
“Oh I would love some!” Christine said excitedly. Calm down, she had to tell herself. You’re not going to get into his pants if you’re visibly salivating at the thought of seeing his package.
He turned to go to the kitchen. Christine stared at his ass. Raw desire consumed her like a demon possessing an impressionable girl. She had to have a piece of that. This instant.
She leapt at him like a feral tigress, nearly knocking him off of his feet. It took him by surprise, a sneak attack from behind. But he didn’t mind. His tongue shot out at her like a lion darting towards its prey. Their tongues were intertwined like braids in a challah loaf. Christine suddenly found her back on his plush sofa, with her body slipping out of her yellow dress like a snake molting its skin. He had waited for this day forever. The day he could cup her bare breasts in his hands.
Now it was Christine’s turn. He ripped off Kevin’s shirt, revealing his toned upper body. She had dreamed of this day for a long time. Why didn’t he ask her over sooner? She was no prude. She totally would’ve come over a lot sooner. But no matter, she was here now. She proceeded to tear off his pants, leaving him in his boxer shorts, with a noticeable tent in them. He wanted this as much as she did.
Bodily fluids streamed out of both of them like leaky faucets in need of repair. But there was nothing wrong with them; the fluids were nature’s way of getting their bodies ready to enter each other with as little friction as possible. Kevin tore off Christine’s now-soaking panties; Christine tore off Kevin’s boxers with a giant wet spot in the front. They were now on top of each other, naked as the day they were born. They had both waited for this moment for so long.
He entered her gently, yet urgently, and started thrusting so rhythmically that his moans could be used to set a metronome. She gasped with delight, feeling the carnal pleasures that she had gone without for far too long. The warmth spread throughout their bodies, the excitement building up in both of them. As he got ready to blow his load, her moans were getting louder and louder, like a warbler in distress. But this woman was in no form of distress. She was experiencing unspeakable bliss with this beautiful specimen of man.
Kevin had reached the point of no return. He withdrew his member from her and erupted all over her stomach, grunting loudly like a wildebeest conquering its prey. Christine was so close to her climax she could taste it. She grabbed his hand and shoved it onto her mound, rubbing wildly like her life depended on it. She could feel herself falling off of a high cliff, her breath being taken away, unable to vocalize the sensations she was experiencing. The whole room seemed to darken as her pupils dilated, and she screamed as if she were pushing a baby out of her birth canal. But there was no baby. Just pure, unadulterated pleasure in her nether regions.
She was exhausted. “Now would be a good time for that ice cream!” she squealed, as Kevin handed her a towel to wipe off the evidence from her stomach. He went over to the freezer to grab the vanilla ice cream he had in the fridge.
He also picked up the bag of chocolate chips she had given her from the refrigerator, since he thought it might make a nice addition to the ice cream. “Want some of these delicious chocolate chips in your ice cream?” he asked, playfully dangling the bag in front of her.
“That sounds great!” she said, as she got up to join him in the kitchen. “What are these?” She pointed to some bottles he had on the counter.
“Oh, that’s just some extract I got from my mint plants,” Kevin responded. Mint extract was becoming more popular, as people were demanding the flavor of mint without having to keep around fresh mint leaves, which spoiled easily.
“Ooh,” Christine exclaimed, a playful look coming over her. “How about we squirt some of that into the ice cream, too?”
“Chocolate chips and mint? I’ve never heard of such a thing!” But Kevin was intrigued. Why not?
And so they mixed mint extract and chocolate chips into the ice cream. They loved it. The sweet, crunchy bits of chocolate, with the cool, refreshing flavor of mint. Why had nobody come up with this combination before? It was pure brilliance.
Well, somehow I feel like the real story took place in a far less sexy environment, like in a lab or something. But a boy can dream.
Anyway, I found the cake recipe here.
Mint Chocolate Chip Cake
9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup milk
Icing:
2.5 sticks unsalted butter, softened
500 grams icing sugar (about 4 cups), sifted
2-3 tsp peppermint essence, to taste
150 grams dark chocolate, chopped
green food coloring
ice cream cones (optional)
- Butter two 9-inch cake pans and preheat oven to 350F.
- Sift together the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder) in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.
- Add the eggs in one at a time until well-mixed.
- Mix the coffee and milk together in a small bowl.
- Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter, sugar, and eggs mixture.
- Add the coffee and milk to the batter, and stir.
- Stir in the other half of the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
- Split the batter evenly between the two cake pans.
- Bake at 350F for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes in the tins, then remove them and let them cool on a wire rack.
- To make the frosting, beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth.
- Add the icing sugar one cup at a time, beating with the mixer until combined.
- Add peppermint essence to taste, and add green food coloring for desired green color.
- Stir in the chocolate chip pieces so that they’re evenly distributed.
- Take about a quarter of the icing and place it on top of one of the cakes, smoothing it over with a spatula.
- Place the other cake on top of the first cake.
- Cover the cake with more icing, and smooth the whole surface over with a spatula.
- Optionally, decorate the top with ice cream cones, placing scoops of leftover icing under the cones.
A lot of steps, but there aren’t that many ingredients, so it’s pretty straightforward.
The butter, sugar, and eggs.
The dry ingredients, sifted together. I made fake cake flour by taking 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, removing 3 tablespoons, and adding 3 tablespoons of cornstarch. Nobody could tell the difference.
Milk and coffee. On a different day, this might have been a café au lait, but today, this is for the cake.
The three parts mixed together in one big mess.
I split the batter as evenly as I could between two cake pans.
After 25 minutes, they’re done. A bit uneven, perhaps, since one was on the bottom rack of the oven and the other on the top rack, and my oven doesn’t seem to heat that evenly.
I got the cakes out in one piece each, somehow. Not too much crumbling, thankfully.
Butter, icing sugar, peppermint extract, and some green food coloring to make sure everyone knows it’s mint. Peppermint extract, as it turns out, is actually clear.
The icing with the chocolate chips mixed in. I chopped a block of chocolate with a knife, so they are very uneven.
The first layer, with icing. Not very pretty so far…
Now the second layer, with icing to cover the whole thing.
Then some more smoothing of the icing, along with some scoops of icing and the ice cream cones on top. I am not particularly good at making smooth icing surfaces, and the chocolate chips made it even harder.
The clumps of icing are supposed to be like scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream, if you couldn’t tell.
I was pleasantly surprised by this cake. Even though the icing is quite sweet, it tasted a lot like mint chocolate chip ice cream, just at room temperature. I think it went well with the chocolate cake, too.