Great Lunchbox Recipe - Creme de Menthe Cake (Arsenic Cake!)

Creme de Menthe cake (or Arsenic Cake, which is what we affectionately called this tasty treat :)) was one of my favourite childhood recipes - and simple enough to make that it was one of the first cakes I learned to bake alone.

Basically, it's a chocolate peppermint cake - a plain cake, flavoured with peppermint and tinted with green food colouring; and iced with rich chocolate icing (frosting). It tastes wonderful, and it's startling colour makes it a lunchbox or party favourite - as well as making it perfect for birthday cakes, St Patrick's Day or halloween!

Creme De Menthe Cake

4 oz (115g) butter
6 oz (170g) caster sugar (Don't buy it specially if you don't have it to hand: use plain white!)
2 eggs
6 oz (170g) flour
1/4 c milk
1/2 baking soda
1 t cream of tartar*
1 t peppermint essence
1 t green food colouring (optional of course)**

Cream the butter and sugar (Check out a post later in the week for directions if you're not sure what this means!) Add the eggs and stir gently. NOTE: Never beat a cake mix, unless the recipe specifically calls for it. Stir gently :)

Dissolve the baking soda in the milk. Add it alternately with your remaining dry ingredients (flour, cream of tartar). NOTE: this means, stir in some of the dry ingredients, then an equivalent proportion of milk, and repeat until all have been added. It's to help you achieve a smooth cake batter :)

Your cake batter should be a nice gold, and reasonably thick. add your peppermint essence and green colour, and stir through until mixed. The batter will turn a pale grass green - don't get it too bright, it always looks brighter when it's cooked!

Grease your cake pan, or line it with baking paper, and pour in your cake batter. I prefer to make this cake in a square pan, so as to have lovely squares with four green sides when it's cut, but use your favorite cake pan for the occasion. Round is usually better for birthdays!

Bake the cake at 180 deg C (350F) until done - it takes around 40 minutes in a standard oven. A fan oven will be faster.

The edges of the cake will brown, but when you cut it you'll find the cake is quite a virulent green. if it's for a birthday or St Patrick's Day, you might like to trim the edges off to make a nice bright green edge - you can serve these offcuts as desserts with icecream.

Ice with your favorite chocolate icing/frosting recipe - I'll bring you mine tomorrow, but this cake will take your own favorite.

*Unfortunately, there's not really a good substitute for cream of tartar, if you don't happen to have it. You could try popping in a teaspoon of baking powder instead. You'll find recommendations to leave out the baking soda if you do that, but I wouldn't recommend that course for this particular recipe.

Serving suggestions

• This cake is a lunchbox favorite - very tasty, and great looking!
• Un-iced, sliced thinly and topped with chocolate sauce as a dessert
• Birthday party - either as the birthday cake or sliced into fingers
• St Patrick's Day or Hallowe'en party fare
  

**TOP TIP: If you are making a "grown up" cake, add 1/2 cup of cocoa to the mix, and another few drops of peppermint essence. This will give you a real chocolate peppermint cake, with a night light fluffy texture.