Recipe: Mint Cookies and Cream Cake

About a month ago, I got to do one thing that combined a number of my interests: I was able to make a cake at Momofuku and nerd out hardcore over the amazing team that works with Christina Tosi. If you read my post about my first trip to Momofuku Milk Bar back in September, you know that I have one gigantic girl crush on Tosi. My sweet tooth and I pledge our loyalty to her and all her amazing ideas. What she understands about dessert is that it should be yummy, fun, and inventive. Tosi takes classics and puts a new spin on them so that even if your mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies, you can enjoy these new riffs. She also wants to make her goodies accessible to those who aren’t based in New York for everyone to enjoy her treats. This is accomplished in a number of ways, including options like cookbooks, shipping out Momofuku desserts, and baking classes. All of these options sound fantastic to me, but the latter one was something I was all about when I first heard of it in August.

Eventually, on a rainy day at the beginning of November, I went up to New York to visit my friend Rachel and participate in one of these ‘Bake the Book‘ classes. Though the weather was less than stellar and we had to trek over to Hipsterville (AKA Williamsburg) to participate, I had a boatload of fun. With adorable baking headscarves we got to take home, encouragement from our teacher to snack while we were creating our cakes, and bottles of Brooklyn Lager to add to our enjoyment, this small class was both exciting and informative. I returned home with a gigantic cake, some cake balls, and a smile the size of my favorite comic book store. If any of you are able to make it to New York and are willing to splurge on a food geek activity, I’d certainly recommend checking it out.

I’ve reproduced the recipe below for the Mint Cookies and Cream Cake that I made because it was astoundingly awesome, but you can also find it on their website here, which is a bit more technical. It’s involved, but trust me, it is more than worth it. Once you get the layering and basic premise of the recipe down, there’s no end to the ways you can change it up and create your own unique cake.

Mint Chocolate Chip Layer Cake

Yield: 1 Layer Cake, 5 to 6 inches tall. Serves 6 to 8.

1 recipe chocolate chip cake (recipe below)
65g milk
1 recipe chocolate crumb (recipe below)
1 recipe mint cheesecake (recipe below)
1 recipe cookies and cream frosting (recipe below)

special equipment
1 (6-inch) cake ring
2 strips acetate, each 3 inches wide and 20 inches long

1. Put a piece of parchment or a silpat on the counter. Invert the cake onto it and peel off the parchment or silpat from the bottom of the cake. Use the cake ring to stamp out 2 circles from the cake. These are your top 2 cake layers. The remaining cake “scrap” will come together to make the bottom layer of the cake.
2. Clean the cake ring and place it in the center of a sheet pan lined with clean parchment or a silpat. Use 1 strip of acetate to line the inside of the cake ring.
3. Put the cake scraps together inside the ring and use the back of your hand to tamp the scraps together into a flat even layer.
4. Dunk a pastry brush or spoon in the milk and give the layer of cake a good, healthy bath of half of the milk soak.
5. Use the back of a spoon to spread one-third of the frosting in an even layer over the cake.
6. Sprinkle one-third of the chocolate crumbs evenly over the cookies and cream frosting. use the back of your hand to anchor them in place.
7. Use the back of a spoon to spread a one half of the mint cheesecake as evenly as possible over the crumbs.
8. With your index finger, gently tuck the second strip of acetate between the cake ring and the top ¼ inch of the first strip of acetate, so that you have a clear ring of acetate 5 to 6 inches tall – high enough to support the height of the finished cake. Set a cake round on top of the frosting, and repeat the process for this layer.
layer 3, the top
9. Nestle the remaining cake round into the mint cheesecake. Cover the top of the cake with the remaining cookies and cream frosting, and spread evenly. garnish the frosting with the remaining chocolate crumbs.
10. Transfer the sheet pan to the freezer and freeze for a minimum of 12 hours to set the cake and filling. The cake will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
11. At least 3 hours before you are ready to serve the cake, pull the sheet pan out of the freezer and, using your fingers and thumbs, pop the cake out of the cake ring. gently peel off the acetate, and transfer the cake to a platter or cake stand. Let it defrost in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours (wrapped well in plastic, the cake can be refrigerated for up to 5 days).
12. Slice the cake into wedges and serve.

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Chocolate Chip Cake

Yield: 1 Quarter Sheet Pan

1 stick butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
3 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
nonstick cooking spray (optional)
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Heat the oven to 350°f.
2. Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and mix on medium-high again for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.
3. On low speed, stream in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and paddle for 4 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogeneous. Don’t rush the process- you’re basically forcing too much liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn’t want to make room for the liquid. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. On very low speed, add the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until your batter comes together and any remnants of dry ingredients have been incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. If you see any lumps of cake flour in there while you’re scraping, mix for another 45 seconds.
5. Spray a quarter sheet pan and line it with parchment, or just line the pan with a silpat. Using a spatula, spread the cake batter in an even layer in the pan. give the bottom of your sheet pan a tap on the countertop to even out the layer. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the cake batter.
6. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes. The cake will rise and puff, doubling in size, but will remain slightly buttery and dense. At 30 minutes, gently poke the edge of the cake with your finger: the cake should bounce back slightly and the center should no longer be jiggly. leave the cake in the oven for an extra 3 to 5 minutes if it doesn’t pass these tests.
7. Take the cake out of the oven and cool on a wire rack. The cooled cake can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days.

Chocolate Crumb

Yield: about 2 ½ cups

2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder, preferably valrhona
1 tsp. kosher salt
6 tbsp. butter, melted

1. Heat the oven to 300°F.
2. Combine the flour, cornstarch, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and paddle on low speed until mixed.
3. Add the butter and paddle on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in small clusters.
4. Spread the clusters on a parchment-or silpat-lined sheet pan. Bake for 20 minutes, breaking them up occasionally. The crumbs should still be slightly moist to the touch at that point; they will dry and harden as they cool. Let the crumbs cool completely before using; place 1/2 cup aside for the mint cookies and cream frosting.

Mint Liquid Cheesecake

Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

8 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tbsp. milk
1 egg
2 g mint extract
2 drops green food color

1. Heat the oven to 300°f.
2. Put the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the sugar and mix for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sugar has been completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Whisk together the cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the milk in a slow, steady stream, then whisk in the egg until the mixture is homogeneous.
4. With the mixer on medium-low speed, stream in the egg slurry. paddle for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and loose. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Line the bottom and sides of a 6 x 6-inch baking pan with plastic wrap. Pour the cheesecake batter into the pan, put the pan in the oven, and bake for 15 minutes. Gently shake the pan. The cheesecake should be firmer and more set toward the outer boundaries of the baking pan but still be jiggly and loose in the dead center. If the cheesecake is jiggly all over, give it 5 minutes more- and 5 minutes more if it needs it. If the cheesecake rises more than a ¼ inch or begins to brown, take it out of the oven immediately.
6. Cool the cheesecake completely, to finish the baking process and allow the cheesecake to set. The final product will resemble a cheesecake, but it will be pipeable and pliable enough to easily spread or smear, while still having body and volume.
7. Mix in the mint extract and green color, with a spatula or in a stand mixer. Once cool, the cheesecake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up 1 week.

Cookies and Cream Frosting

Yield: about 473 g

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup crisco shortening
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
3 tsp. clear vanilla extract
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate crumbs

1. In a stand mixer mix together all ingredients except for the chocolate crumbs until incorporated.
2. With a spatula fold in chocolate crumbs.
3. The frosting is ready to use immediately, or can stay for up to one week in refrigeration.

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