Let it snow!

I love this time of year! Especially all the flavors that coincide with winter, namely peppermint. Every quarter my work hosts a student appreciation lunch to "thank" the students who work in my office. I took it upon myself to bring a delicious treat to thank my fellow students as well. I've been wanting to try this cake out ever since I saw it on the cover of this month's Bon Appetit. Yes, I'm talking about the four-layered chocolate monstrosity, also known as devil's food cake with peppermint frosting, a dark chocolate ganache and a peppermint white chocolate cream filling. Yum. It was every bit as delicious as it sounds. I added a few bits of my own though. Through my endeavors of cake making, I've discovered that a good way to keep a cake moist is to use either jams or liqours drizzled over the cake layers. After letting the cake cool and leveling the layers, either melt a couple of tablespoons of your favorite jam/jelly or a splash of your favorite liqour and simply drizzle it over the layers of cake. Let the layers sit for about half an hour before you assemble and frost your cake. This not only adds a punch of extra flavor, but keeps the cake moist after you frost it. So for this devil's food cake, I used roughly 3-4 Tbsp. of Peppermint Schnapps drizzled over the four layers. If you're out of peppermint you could easily substitute it for a chocolate or vanilla liquor. Also, after assembling the cake, I used crushed peppermints in addition to the chocolate curls as the garnish. Another trick, take whole peppermints (or halve them if you're that patient) and line the bottom of the cake with them. It not only adds more visual appeal but it hides frosting lines and those occasional mistakes. I would definitely reccommend this cake, it's perfect for this time of year! Look for it in the December 2008 edition of Bon Appetit.