PATTY PANS RECIPES RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Grease and flour three 8x2 inch round pans
• Sift the cake mix into the mixing bowl, then add the flour, sugar, baking powder and cocoa.
• Whisk together to blend or blend for 30 second with your mixer.
• Add the eggs, milk, oil and peppermint extract
• Mix on low speed for 30 seconds to moisten the batter. Increase to medium speed and mix for 1 minute. If using a hand mixer you may need to mix a bit longer.
• Pour the batter into prepared pans and bake for 22 to 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
• Cool the layers 5 to 10 minutes on cooling rack and turn out.
• Cream the softened butter. Add half of the powdered sugar, the peppermint extract and one half of the milk.
• Begin mixing on low speed increasing to medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Add remaining powdered sugar. Add the remaining milk gradually, determining how much you need for the right consistency.
• Mix at low to medium speed another 3 to 4 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Slow down the mixer to very slow (#2 speed on the KitchenAid) for the last 1 to 2 minutes. This will help eliminate air pockets in the buttercream. The texture will become very smooth.
• Can be frozen in air tight container for at least three months. Thaw on countertop.
• Place your chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.
• Pour heavy cream over the chocolate and place in the microwave for 1 minute. (Times may vary, see our note below).
• Remove and stir. Microwave for 30 seconds more if needed and when the chocolate has melted almost completely, allow it to sit for 1 minute more before stirring. Stir until you've reached a silky smooth consistency.
• *Microwave times may vary. If you are making a smaller amount of ganache, you will reduce the microwave time. If your chocolate hasn't melted after the 1 1/2 minutes recommended in the instructions, simply microwave in small 10-15 second increments until it has nearly completely melted. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth.
• Assembling the Cake
• Place the first cake layer on your cake plate or pedestal. Spread with a thin layer of ganache (optional). Spread with peppermint buttercream. If the ganache makes it difficult for you to spread on the buttercream, either chill the layer for a few minutes to firm up the ganache a bit or just pipe on the buttercream with a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away and then spread it.)
• Repeat for the next layer and top with the third layer. Frost the cake with a thin layer of peppermint buttercream. This is the crumb coat. I like to chill the cake at this point to firm everything up-- 10 minutes in the freezer or longer in the refrigerator. Then frost the cake with the final coat of buttercream. Smooth with a spatula or bench scraper.
• If you're adding ganache to the the cake as we did, chill the cake for about 5-10 minutes in the freezer (or a bit longer in the refrigerator). The ganache should be a good dripping consistency--not too thick or too runny. If you're unsure, you can do a practice run on the inside of your ganache bowl.
• Spoon ganache into a disposable piping bag and snip the tip away to create a small hole. Add drips around the top edge of the cake. Once finished, apply additional ganache to the top of the cake and spread with a small spatula or back of a spoon.
• I topped the cake with peppermint patty halves around the top edge of the cake to create a border.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan forced). Grease 18 holes from two 12-hole (1½-tablespoon/30ml) shallow round-based patty pans.
• Place one biscuit each over top of 18 pan holes. Bake about 4 minutes or until biscuits soften. Using the back of a teaspoon, gently press softened biscuits into pan holes, cool.
• Stir condensed milk, butter and sugar in small heavy-based saucepan over heat until smooth. Bring to the boil, boil, stirring, about 10 minutes or until mixture is thick and dark caramel in colour. Remove from heat, stir in juice.
• Divide caramel mixture among biscuit cases. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set.