Dream in Tangerine Buttercream: Heaven is coated in chocolate

Once a year, outside our grocery stores or even on our front porches, we are graced with the presence of Girl Scouts and their infamous cookies. As we all know, the best cookie in existence is the Thin Mint. Oh the Thin Mints! We seriously go ape shit over this stuff. Buying cases upon cases of them to last us through the barren months when those little scouts go into hiding. Going along with my trend of combining cake and delicious sweets, I created a Thin Mint cake to mollify the cookie withdrawal symptoms when our stash runs out using a base recipe of Helen Hudson Whiting's Celestial Chocolate Cake:

For the cake:

2 c. boiling water
1 c. cocoa
2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) butter
2 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs

Mixins for the mixins.

To get the ball rollin:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease and flour three 9-inch round baking pans. Next, pour the boiling water over the cocoa powder, stirring with a fork until the mixture is completely cool. Then set aside to cool.

Cocoa! (And no it's not Swiss Miss)

Chocolate goop! Nom.

Now in the bowl of a stand mixer combine the butter and sugar, beating on a high speed until well combined and fluffy.

Buttah & Sugah before ultimate smack down.

Beaten, not stirred.

Add the vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. In another bowl, combing the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, stirring to mix well. Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture in about four batches, beating after each addition only until the flour just disappears (like magic!).

Mixy, Mixy

Add the cooled cocoa mixture in three batches, every so gently folding it into the batter.

More chocolate goop!

Now divide the batter equally into the three prepared baking pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted tooth pick comes out clean.

Before...

After!

Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire baking rack.

Triple Decker Goodness.

Now a cake can't be a Thin Mint cake without the minty goodness. So get to it!

For the minty filling:

1 c. very cold heavy whipping cream
1/4 c. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (a little bit of this stuff goes a looooong way)

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat on a high speed until thick and luscious (yes, I said luscious). And if you're really into it, you can add a touch of green food coloring.

Simply delicious.

Scrape filling into a smaller bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you're ready to assemble your cake.

Now what is cake with out frosting? Chocolate buttercream frosting to be more precise.

For the frosting:

1 16-oz pkg. semisweet chocolate chips, about 2 3/4 c.
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, cut into chunks
2 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar

Peppermint Schnapps...what are you doing there?

To get your buttercream a goin':

In a double boiler, combine the chocolate chips, cream, and butter. Cook gently over medium heat, stirring often to help the butter and chocolate melt. Be careful not to boil the mixture! When the chocolate and butter have melted, transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and let cool to room temperature.

You know, you could just stop now and dip strawberries in this...RESIST!

Now add the confectioners' sugar and beat well until the frosting is thick enough to spread.

Perfection.

To assemble the cake:

While you're waiting for various ingredients to cool, you can go ahead an level your cakes and infuse them with a very tablespoons of Peppermint Schnapps. This not only keeps the cakes moist but add an extra punch of peppermint. Using a serrated knife, level off two of the three cakes and drizzle a touch of the Schnapps on each leveled layer. Allow the layers to sit for about half an hour before you frost them.