Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream
This Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream features the best chocolate cake recipe ever, piled high with irresistibly fluffy mint flavored frosting. It’s crazy awesome!

Growing up, birthdays were always celebrated with a chocolate wacky cake. Made in one mixing bowl, with minimal and inexpensive ingredients (a cake recipe made famous during the Great Depression), it’s still a quick and easy favorite chocolate cake recipe of mine. But I’ve been playing around with recipes over the past few years, determined to find a go-to chocolate cake recipe of just a bit more indulgence. And I can finally say that I have it. I’m sharing the recipe with you here today, topped with an irresistible frosting. If you like to celebrate with a little bit o’ green for St. Patrick’s Day, this Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream would be a most excellent dessert choice!
I’ve made a number of different chocolate cake recipes over the years, but the one I kept returning to is from Ina Garten’s book Barefoot Contessa at Home, named “Beatty’s Chocolate Cake”. Ina’s cookbooks and Food Network show are among my favorite and most trusted cooking and baking sources. I like Ina’s gentle, positive spirit, plus her kitchen knowledge and approachable recipes.
My cake recipe is just slightly adapted from Ina’s. It’s rich and chocolatey, with a large, super moist crumb. I have deemed it “perfect”. For my birthday, I want this chocolate cake.
This recipe includes espresso powder and hot brewed coffee. And whenever I include these ingredients, there are always people asking if they can eliminate them. I answer back, “Of course you can, but I highly recommend just trying it first, because those ingredients only help to boost the chocolate flavor”. It’s true. And if you’re one of those people, I beg you to just give it a try. I promise that you’ll be rewarded with some of the best chocolate baked goods you’ve ever had.
I topped the cake with a super fluffy mint flavored buttercream frosting. Oh my. Incredibly light in texture, and so killer creamy, it’s totally a lick-the-beater-clean kind of frosting. When the finely chopped chocolate is folded in, it’s like the best frosting version of that awesome mint chocolate chip ice cream.
This chocolate cake with fluffy mint chocolate chip buttercream would be perfect for celebrating so many holidays – think St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Christmas, and New Year’s. And I know several people in my life who would absolutely love to have this sweet chocolate treat to celebrate with on their birthday. I also happen to know a person who would make this cake for no other reason than simply wanting to enjoy the best chocolate cake ever, piled high with irresistibly fluffy mint chocolate chip buttercream. {pick me!}
Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream
This Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream features the best chocolate cake recipe ever, piled high with irresistibly fluffy mint flavored frosting. It’s crazy awesome!
Ingredients
- FOR THE CHOCOLATE CAKE:
- unsalted butter, for preparing the pan
- 2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for preparing the pan
- 2 c. sugar
- 3/4 c. cocoa powder
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. espresso powder
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 c. buttermilk
- 1/2 c. vegetable oil
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 c. freshly brewed hot coffee
- FOR THE FLUFFY MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP BUTTERCREAM:
- 1 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 c. powdered sugar
- 1/8 tsp. kosher salt
- 3 T. half and half
- 2 tsp. mint extract (not peppermint!)
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- green food coloring, if desired (I used Americolor Leaf Green #111)
- 3 oz. (about 1/2 cup) finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate
Instructions
FOR THE CHOCOLATE CAKE:
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9″ x 13″ pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper, and then butter the parchment paper. Add a bit of flour to coat the entire inside surface of the pan, tap out the excess, and set pan aside. This will allow you to turn the cake out onto a platter. If you want to leave the cake in the pan, skip the parchment paper and follow the rest of the steps.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt. Mix on low speed to combine dry ingredients well.
- Add buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to dry mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed to low and carefully add hot coffee to the cake batter. Once the coffee is incorporated, scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and then turn mixer speed to high and beat for 1 minute.
- Pour cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the center is mounded and firmed up, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes. Place serving platter upside down on top of cake pan, and invert cake onto it. Let cake cool completely before spreading the top with the fluffy mint chocolate chip buttercream.
FOR THE FLUFFY MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP BUTTERCREAM:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip butter on medium-high speed until very fluffy, about 8 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add powdered sugar and salt, and beat on low to incorporate. Add half and half, mint extract, and vanilla extract, mixing on low until combined. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 to 6 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add green coloring, if desired, and mix until incorporated. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chopped chocolate just before spreading over the chocolate cake.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 332Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 290mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 1gSugar: 35gProtein: 3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Nutritionix. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.
Here are more chocolate + mint recipes you may like:
- Mom’s Chocolate Mint Brownies
- Grasshopper Cake
- Mint Oreo Cupcakes from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
- Mint Chocolate Bark from Chocolate, Chocolate and More
- Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod
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What a fun cake for St. Patrick’s Day.
What a beautiful cake! …..and that frosting!!!
This is perfect for the St. Paddy’s luncheon I’m serving at church. Hills o’Ireland cake, I think it will be. They will love it. Thanks!
Wonderful, enjoy!
What a delicious looking cake!! So excited to try it!
Yes, yes, yes, I am craving a piece of this cake!
i love everything about this cake Brenda!! I need a dessert to take to an auction in a few weeks – this might be it!!
Chocolate wacky cake? Even if the recipe wasn’t good, I would have to try it just because of the cool title. However, the queen of this post is the FROSTING. Wowzer—-that’s a two star entry! I had to pin it.
Thanks, Carol. I love that name, too!
Completely my kind of cake – chocolate and mint together makes me so happy!! :-)
With being the baking lover I am, I had to check out your recipe and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wold be making this one. Looks so scrumptious Brenda!
Hi Donna – I hope you like it!
Oh my! That mint buttercream icing does look so fluffy and delicious. The cake recipe is very similar to a favourite one that I use and yes I agree with you…definitely add the coffee and espresso powder :)
Thanks for backing me up, Paula. ;)
I really love the look of that frosting!! So delicious!
I love this recipe! You had me at mint chocolate buttercream!
Omg – this reminds of my favorite ice cream! I can’t wait to make this.
This cake looks fantastic, I can’t wait to try out your recipe!
I love Ina’s recipes and have never made something of hers and not been absolutely in love with the dish. This cake recipe looks great and I love that you used a mint chocolate chip buttercream. The best of both worlds!!
Thanks, Wendy. The frosting is so much fun!!
What a pretty cake!! Love the color.
Mmm that looks amazing! You can never go wrong with mint + chocolate :) The frosting layer looks so fluffy and delicious!
Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day…or any day! Love!
I feel like Agnes from Despicable Me, about this fluffy frosting – It’s so fluffy I’m going to DIEEEEE!!!!!
I might have actually repeated Agnes’ famous line once or twice as I enjoyed this cake. ;)
We do these mint chocolate brownies that are a family favorite. This cake totally reminds me of that. My sister is a huge mint chip fan, so I have to make this for her.