I am always in the mood for chocolate cake. Souffles, lava cake, Hostess cakes, etc., I just love fluffiness with chocolate. I also love the pairing of chocolate with dairy, as well as chocolate with yogurt, so I wanted to use Yakult, which reminds me now and forever onwards of Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Netflix-popularized movie aside, I grew up drinking that shizz. The tanginess of it offsets white chocolate perfectly, and yogurt and mint go together, so I figured let’s go in that general direction as well, just because mint and chocolate is one of the many chocolate pairings you can do that works well, and has few people rooting against it.

This particular rendition of chocolate cake features chocolate-cream cheese mousse, white chocolate-mint-Yakult ganache, chocolate crumble, and gateau au chocolat-inspired chocolate-walnut cake. It is literally designed to put you in a chocolate coma. I intended for this to be a chocolate-mint cake that will annihilate any chocolate or thin mint cravings, so hopefully it does just that for anyone who goes out of their way to make it!

For the cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons black vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup canola oil
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Combine ingredients and pour into a lined shallow sheet tray. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, and cool completely before unmolding.

For the ganache:
2 small bottles of Yakult
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 oz white chocolate chips
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon spearmint or peppermint extract

Melt all ingredients together on low heat, sans peppermint. Once the mixture is smooth, take off heat and add in the peppermint extract. Transfer to another container. Bring down to room temperature for assembly.

For the mousse:
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz dark chocolate chips
1 small bottle of Yakult
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar.
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, melt down the Yakult with chocolate chips, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. In a stand mixer, whip cream cheese until soft. Once the chocolate is fully melted, pour into cream cheese mixture and continue whipping until the mixture is combined fully.

For the crumble:
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
a pinch of salt
2/3 cups finely chopped dark chocolate chips

Combine ingredients. Spread onto a sheet tray. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Cool completely and break apart into fingernail-sized chunks.

For assembly:
Cut out two 6-inch rings of cake and reserve the scraps. Line a 6 inch ring mold with parchment or acetate. Press the scraps into the bottom. Spread on about 1/3 mousse, 1/3 of the crumble, then 1/3 of the ganache. Repeat with the other two layers. Refrigerate for at least 2 1/2 hours (white chocolate ganache tends to be the worst when it comes to setting up properly) before unmolding.