So that Mint Chocolate Cookie Cake? Tasted exactly like a York Peppermint Patty and looked just like a Girl Scout cookie Thin Mint since the ganache completely enrobed the cake! I made the frosting layer without the fresh mint since we couldn't find any in the stores around here, but it was just the right amount of peppermint extract so that it wasn't like eating toothpaste, but gave a good, strong mint punch. The cake was light and airy with a solid chocolate flavor and the ganache was the perfect consistency to create a 1/4 inch layer of delicious chocolate coating.

I also made the icing layer all butter instead of half butter, half shortening, since shortening gives a weird, clingy, fatty mouth film that I try to avoid. I think shortening was often used in the South where butter tended to go bad faster in the heat, but like most Southern food traditions like chitlins, frying everything, or sweet tea, I steer clear of it. As far as I'm concerned, the only place for shortening is in pie crust to make it more pliable than an all butter crust.

It seems that my sister also has no plans to come back here for a while, but at least we could finally give her a proper birthday celebration. I can't believe I'm only a month and a half away from my birthday, how time flies!