A long, long time ago, I made a grasshopper pie using creme di menthe, which is an intense mint liquor. Think alcoholic Listerine, To be honest, outside of extremely niche usages, like maybe a mint julep, I can’t see why anyone would want to drink creme di menthe, especially on its own. That being said, when cooked down, it can flavor a mint dessert gorgeously, with a distinct mint flavor. I can maybe see it also working in a mint jelly situation that you might pair with lamb(but honestly, does anyone actually eat the mint jelly served with lamb? I always found it weird, but maybe it’s a cultural thing). That whole tirade about creme di menthe to say, I’ve had some fun experimenting with this liquor. So for St. Patrick’s Day this year, I wanted to bring that creme di menthe back, and use it in a chocolate shamrock cake. Which is just my semi-festive way to say it is a chocolate mint cake. For the cake itself, as a small nod to Irish soda bread, I used soda water in the batter, just to give the chocolate cake a light, airier crumb. Fun fact: carbonated beverages make cake batters fluffier. I layered that with a soak, a mint ganache, similar to a nama chocolate, but replacing the sake with our favorite creme di menthe to impart that mint flavor. I also made an Italian meringue buttercream with the creme di menthe, which took on a gorgeous green color and a pleasant mint flavor – tempering that stuff with sugar and butter seems to be the way to go, at least in terms of making creme di menthe tolerable in a dessert, but that might just be a general rule of thumb for everything. To garnish, I microwaved mint leaves to dry them out, and also got fresh oxalis(wood sorrel, which looks like a clover and has a sour pop to them), just to add more natural greenery.

Makes one 6-inch cake, roughly 8 servings:
For the chocolate cake:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup black cacao powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
3/4 cups canola oil
1 1/2 cups soda water
3 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

In a bowl, mix the flour, cacao powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and canola oil until a crumbly dough forms. Whisk into that the remaining ingredients to form a batter. Pour the batter into a lined half sheet tray and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the cake batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22 minutes. Cut out four 6-inch rings from the cake, using scraps as necessary.

For the mint ganache:
3oz heavy cream
2oz whole milk
1oz creme di menthe
a pinch of salt
8oz dark chocolate
4 tbsp unsalted butter

In a pot, heat up the cream, whole milk, and salt. Once everything comes up to a simmer, pour over the dark chocolate, creme di menthe, and salted butter. Allow the cream and chocolate to sit for 1 minute before stirring to combine. Keep the ganache spreadable for the assembly process.

For the creme di menthe Italian meringue buttercream:
1oz creme di menthe
3oz water
3oz granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
3 egg whites
3 sticks unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, bring creme di menthe, water, sugar, and salt to a boil. In a mixing bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Once the sugar is fully dissolved into the liquid, pour that into the egg whites while whisking the whites. To that, whisk in the butter and vanilla until everything is combined into a smooth buttercream. Keep the buttercream at room temperature.

For the milk soak:
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

Mix everything together. Keep refrigerated until time to assemble.

For initial assembly:
Start by taking one of the cake rounds and applying 1/4 of the soak to it. Pipe a border of the buttercream around the cake and spread 1/4 of the ganache on the inside. Repeat these steps two more times. Then place down the last cake round and soak. Start by spreading about 2oz of the buttercream around the cake to form a crumb coat. Refrigerate the cake for 10 minutes. Then spread more of the buttercream around the cake until everything is cleanly concealed by it, using a bench scraper and/or an offset spatula to do so. Spread the remaining ganache on top of the cake. Pipe any remaining buttercream on top of the cake in a border around the ganache. Place the cake back in the freezer until time to finish garnishing.

For the microwaved mint:
20 fresh mint leaves

Place the mint leaves between two paper towels and microwave 30 seconds at a time until the mint leaves are crispy(I microwaved mine for 1 minute in total). Store in an airtight container until time to garnish.

For garnish:
Fresh oxalis leaves

Decorate the sides and top of the cake with the microwaved mint leaves and the fresh oxalis leaves.