Naked Christmas Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Bark and Mascarpone Buttercream
Naked Christmas Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Bark and Mascarpone Buttercream
This mostly homemade Christmas Chocolate Cake is a perfect holiday dessert. You can’t go wrong with a rich chocolate cake decorated with creamy mascarpone buttercream and chunks of yummy peppermint bark! This easy cake is a showstopper.
What you’ll love about this recipe:
Naked cakes are less stress, and sooooo pretty!
They really are. I love the look of naked cakes, there’s just something about the easy elegance of a light frosting that not only looks nice, but makes decorating cakes SO much less stressful. There’s less focus on perfect frosting, and more emphasis on the decorations, like with this cake that’s decorated with peppermint bark and cookies.
A look at the ingredients:
Cake Recipe Tips:
- CAKE MIX: For a more chocolatey cake use a Dark Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake mix. You can also use a super moist chocolate fudge cake mix.
- PUDDING: Use a standard ~ 3 ounce package of instant chocolate pudding mix (package sizes can vary from 3.4 – 3.9 oz, any in this range will work fine).
- SOUR CREAM: Use a full fat sour cream or any thick plain yogurt like Balkan or Greek yogurt.
- FROSTING: This cake is frosted with a simple mascarpone buttercream that’s creamy and so good! You can also use a regular buttercream if you like, or try my favourite marshmallow buttercream.
- FROSTING TIP: Using an offset icing spatula to frost the cake makes the job so much easier!
- PEPPERMINT BARK: Use a good quality peppermint bark for the topping (my favourite is from Williams Sonoma).
- MORE TOPPING IDEAS: Use chocolate covered peppermint cookies (these ones are from Williams Sonoma), or chocolate covered oreos, crushed candy canes…the possibilities are endless.
Easy to assemble, easy to frost.
Here’s a quick look at how to assemble this easy cake.
After removing the cakes from the pans try to brush away as many crumbs as possible. You can see here that they don’t need to be perfect. Place the first layer on a cake stand, spread the frosting over the top, then sprinkle with crushed peppermint bark. Add the next cake layer.
Finish icing the cake then place broken pieces of bark along the bottom. Top with chocolate covered peppermint cookies, and sprinkle with crushed peppermint.
Naked Christmas Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Bark and Mascarpone Buttercream
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:
- 1 package Dark Devil's Food Cake Mix See notes.
- 1 3 ounce package instant chocolate pudding mix
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1/2 cup warm water (or milk)
- 4 large eggs beaten
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips
Mascarpone Buttercream:
- 8 oz Mascarpone cheese
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar (more if needed)
- 1 – 2 tbsp heavy cream (just enough to make a soft icing that's easy to spread)
Topping:
- peppermint bark crushed and in chunks
- chocolate mint cookies
Instructions
Making the cakes:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using a stand mixer combine all of the cake ingredients except for the chocolate chips. Mix until smooth, about 4 minutes.1 package Dark Devil's Food Cake Mix, 1 3 ounce package instant chocolate pudding mix, 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil, 1/2 cup warm water, 4 large eggs
- Fold in the chocolate chips.1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips
- Prepare 2 round 8-inch baking pans by spraying them with a flour/oil cooking spray, or greasing with butter and lightly dusting with flour.
- Pour the cake batter into the two prepared pans (evenly spreading the batter between the 2 pans).
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 15 minutes.
Making the frosting:
- While the cakes are baking or cooling you can make the frosting. Use a stand mixer and combine the frosting ingredients, mixing until fluffy and smooth.8 oz Mascarpone cheese, 2 tbsp Butter, 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, 1 – 2 tbsp heavy cream
Putting it all together:
- Place one cake layer on to a cake plate, then spread on some of the frosting and sprinkle with crushed peppermint bark (see picture above).
- Place the second layer on top of the bottom layer. Try to lightly brush away as many cake crumbs from the outside of the stacked cake as you can. It doesn't have to be perfect.
- Now finish icing cake, making sure that the layers show through (that's the whole point of a naked cake!).
- Add broken pieces of peppermint bark along the bottom, sprinkle with crushed peppermint, and top with cookies.peppermint bark, chocolate mint cookies
festive and delicious!
15+ Festive Cakes
Make sure to check out this collection of my very favourite tried-and-true Christmas cake recipes that I know you will love! From chocolate, to cinnamon, orange, rum, eggnog and more!
Have a delicious day!
