mini mojito cake
It’s cake, but smol.
Before each cake-baking adventure I undergo the same internal monologue pertaining to my upcoming experiment:
Why are you baking more cake.
You really shouldn’t be baking more cake.
You told yourself last time you baked cake that you’d calm down with the cake baking.
Ok, this is the last cake for awhile.
It never is the last cake, is it?
At least this guy is teeny!
Mini Mojito Cake should be added to your list of “to create” sometime. Only two layers, so if you want to hoard all the slices for you and maybe one or two, you won’t be pressured with insane amounts of leftovers and limited freezer space.
This is the spiel: mint and lime-infused sugar swirled into a vanilla cake batter, spread with rum and white chocolate buttercream. Part of the frosting is colored green and infused with lime juice for an extra citrusy smack. The whole affair is pared down to create a mini masterpiece, but I still don’t skimp on the frosting because homemade smear really is my favorite part of the cake. Yep, I’m one of those. Though I don’t really feel the same way about storebought cakes.
On Sugar & Cake
For many recipes in which I’ve used citrus embellishments within the batter (think my Bursting Blueberry Lime Cupcakes, for instance) I advocate infusing some or all of the sugar with the zests. Such allows for the flavor to distribute evenly and discourages clumping. So let’s start there.
Zest a couple limes, enough to make one heaped tablespoon. Toss it in some sugar with a bit of finely chopped fresh mint. This is your mojito mix.
The rest of the cake is a pretty straightforward vanilla butter cake. Whip together softened butter, the regular sugar and the lime infused sugar until creamy. Add in an egg and an egg yolk, one at a time. The volume of the cake doesn’t require two full eggs but the yolk adds additional richness and moisture that one whole egg won’t provide on its own. Finish with a touch of vanilla.
Mix up the dry ingredients. Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Nothing cute here. Alternate incorporating the flour mixture and buttermilk twice (so, one spill of flour mix, one of buttermilk, the rest of the flour, the rest of the milk) into the sugar bowl until both are used up, and avoid overmixing. Stiff cakes aren’t fun.
Grease two 6-inch cake pans and evenly scoop the batter between both. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until the center is set. I always do the toothpick test as well. If only a few moist crumbs stick to the pick, the cakes are good to go.
Buttah Buttah Buttah
This cake calls for a big ole batch of buttercream because we’ll be making two flavor profiles: rum and white chocolate, and the former but with lime juice and a green color.
Microwave some white chocolate in 30 second increments until smooth, then let it cool about 10 minutes. It’s important to ensure the melted white chocolate cools sufficiently before incorporating it into the butter and powdered sugar base. Too many temperatures yields broken buttercream, which is heartbreaking, for real. Grainy frosting isn’t very appealing.
With your handy dandy stand or hand mixer, beat together the white chocolate, butter, powdered sugar, a touch of vanilla, and some rum. Add a little coconut milk or heavy cream as necessary to create a spreadable texture.
Then, move about 1/3 of the buttercream to another bowl. Use a spatula to twirl in some green food coloring and lime juice. I choose plant-derived colorings because they weird me out far less, but they work just as great as the red-10053.3 hues or whatever.
I’m still pretty much awful at decorating cakes. I only know a few basic moves with one piping head. That said, I think minimal is just fine if you’re not trying to sell your stack. Most normal people don’t care much about aesthetics, so long as it looks edible, and more about the taste. Which this little guy delivers hardcore.
You very well could leave the rum out of the buttercream, but that sort of removes the mojito aspect and the infusion is so subtle it just provides an embellishment to the white chocolate. In that case, call it a No-jito cake.
How I would pair this with other dishes, for a small, safe gathering?
Start with the Fiesta Carnitas Tapas Board.
Then, serve a big bowl of Baja Tempeh Taco Salad with Chili Honey Lime Vinaigrette.
For a bev, if a mojito seems excessive, make a pitcher of Summertime Melon and Peach White Sangria for some easy sipping.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Oh, you want an actual mojito now? I gotchu.
Sweet Apricot and Green Tea Mojito
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lime zest
- 1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
white chocolate rum buttercream
- 4 oz good quality white chocolate
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
- 2 tbsp rum
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp canned full-fat coconut milk (or heavy cream)
- 1/2 tsp vegetable-based green food coloring
- 1 tbsp lime juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 6-inch cake pans, or one 9-inch cake pan, generously with butter or oil.
- Measure out 1/4 cup sugar into a small bowl. Sift in lime zest and chopped mint until evenly distributed.
- With a stand or hand mixer, cream butter, lime sugar, and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in egg, then egg yolk, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix.
- In a separate small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In two turns, alternate flour mixture and buttermilk into sugar mixture, beating until just incorporate between each. Do not overmix.
- Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Bake 30-35 minutes until the center is just set and a toothpick removes with just a few moist crumbs. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the perimeter to loosen the cakes and turn onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
- When ready to frost, make the buttercreams! Melt the white chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments until smooth and melted. Let cool 10 minutes. You can also do this part in the last few minutes of the cakes' cooling process.
- Whip together melted white chocolate, powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and rum until smooth. Add 1-2 tsp coconut milk at a time if the buttercream seems too stiff.
- Separate about 1/3 of the buttercream into another bowl. Fold in lime juice and food coloring. I went for a pale green hue but you can go darker if you'd like!
- Level the cake layers if necessary. Set one on a cake stand or flat plate. Smear about 1/3 cup of the white frosting atop that layer. Stack second layer. Frost a thin coat of white frosting around the whole cake. Set in the fridge for about 10 minutes – this is your crumb layer. Frost about 2/3 of the way down the cake with the white frosting. Brush the remaining 1/3 of the cake with the lime-infused green frosting. It doesn't have to be perfect! Just have fun with it. With any remaining buttercream, pipe some swirls on top or whatever other designs you prefer.
