Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pound Cake with Peppermint Drizzle

Serves 10 to 12

Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: 40 to 45 minutes
Cool: 45 to 50 minutes

I absolutely love this cake—it’s chocolatey without being overpowering, just like the chocolate pound cakes that were such a fixture on picnic and potluck tables when I was growing up. You make it by beginning with a yellow cake mix and adding half a package of chocolate pudding mix and two ounces of bittersweet chocolate. As the cake bakes the chopped Andes mint candies melt into pockets of mint-chocolate wonderfulness. On top is a brightly flavored confectioners’ sugar glaze made with peppermint extract.

For the cake:

Vegetable oil spray, for misting the pan
1 tablespoon rice flour or unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting the pan
1 package (15 ounces) yellow gluten-free cake mix
1/4 cup (half of a 3.9 ounce package) chocolate instant pudding mix
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
3 ounces Andes mints, chopped (18 mints, 2/3 cup chopped)

For the peppermint drizzle and garnish:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
2 or 3 gluten-free peppermint hard candies, coarsely crushed
Dairy Free: Omit the Andes mints and use dairy-free chocolate in the cake batter. Use water instead of milk in the glaze.

To make the cake:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray. Dust the pan with the rice flour or cocoa and shake out the excess. Set the pan aside.
Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and melted chocolate in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are just incorporated, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the batter until smooth, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes longer, scraping down the side of the bowl again if needed. Fold in the chopped Andes mints, Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula, and place the pain in the oven.
Bake the cake until the top springs back when lightly pressed with a finger, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer the Bundt pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool for 10 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake, shake the pan gently, and invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely, 15 to 20 minutes longer.

To make the peppermint drizzle

Place the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and whisk in the milk and peppermint extract until smooth. Transfer the cake to a serving plate. Spoon the glaze over the cooled cake and, while the glaze is still wet sprinkle the crushed peppermints over the top. Let the drizzle set for 20 minutes, before slicing and serving.
Keep it fresh! Store the cake in a cake saver at room temperature for up to three days. Freeze the unglazed cake, wrapped in aluminum foil, for up to one month. Let the cake thaw overnight on the kitchen counter before glazing.

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The Books

The Cake Mix Doctor’s Icing On the Cake (A Workman Short eBook)

As the Cake Mix Doctor and America’s bestselling baking author, Anne Byrn shows home bakers how to turn prepackaged cake mix into cake magnificence. But when it comes to frostings, she insists on making them from scratch.

Anne's Cake Mix

Anne’s Old-Fashioned Yellow Cake Mix

Put on your favorite apron, plug in the mixer, and get ready to bake some memories. I've dreamed of creating a yellow cake mix that gets its color from butter and eggs, not artificial colors, and its scent from Madagascar vanilla.