A typical St. Patrick’s Day feast consists of shepherd’s pie, corned beef, and cabbage. There’s never a shortage of entrees and side dishes at a March 17th potluck. That’s why we’re here to recommend you make a little more room on your table for some desserts! On St. Patrick’s Day, it’s important to go all out with color and flavor, so we crafted the Mint Chocolate Ombre Cake Roll as our tribute to this festive spring holiday.
The Mint Chocolate Ombre Cake Roll is simple but elegant. The base is a rich, decadent chocolate cake that has been rolled in a vanilla-flavored crème filling. The whole cake roll is covered in a buttercream frosting that has been flavored with mint to give the dessert an extra kick of flavor. The frosting is then dyed various shades of green which will be used to create the ombre effect. Finally, the top and sides are decorated with more frosting and themed sprinkles. It’s just the thing you need to top off your St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
More Spring Holiday Recipes
Leprechaun Hat Cake Roll
Our Leprechaun Hat Cake Roll is a memorable holiday centerpiece that tastes as magical as it looks. With a touch of green frosting and a sprinkle of gold, it’s the perfect dessert to top off your St. Patrick’s Day feast!
Speckled Egg Cake Roll
This Chocolate Crème Cake Roll is covered in light blue frosting and speckled with cocoa to resemble a Robin’s egg. It’s a creative cake that could not be easier to decorate and makes a stunning centerpiece for your Easter celebration.
Fresh Fruit Cake Roll
A Strawberry Cheesecake Cake Roll is covered in delicate buttercream rosettes and topped with your mom’s favorite fresh fruits to make a stunning dessert that is almost too pretty to eat. It’s the perfect treat to help Mom celebrate on her special day.
What is ombre?
Ombre, which means “shaded” in French, is a popular decorating technique in baking right now. It is the gradual blending of one color shade, or hue, into another. Typically, the shades start out light and becomes darker as it goes down. This creates a subtle variant that is absolutely stunning to look at.
What You’ll Need
- A stand mixer and bowl to make the buttercream frosting. This will help make sure your ingredients are well combined, so you don’t have any large chunks in your frosting. Alternatively, you can use a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer.
- To get a smooth finish on an ombre cake, a turntable is a great tool to have. It allows you to spin the cake around smoothly, so you get a consistent finish on the frosting.
- An offset spatula and cake scraper will even out the buttercream and create the ombre effect.
- There’s a lot of decorating to be done on the Mint Chocolate Ombre Cake roll. You’ll need 12” and 16” piping bags, and a 4B open star piping tip to complete all the elements.
- Serve on a decorative platter. If you’re bringing it to your St. Patrick’s Day celebration, pick something green to further highlight the theme of the event.
Storage Information
A frosted cake can last up to a week when stored in the refrigerator. The frosting helps to lock in the moisture of the cake, keeping it fresh while you wait to serve. If you cut the cake first and then want to store it, put the pieces in an airtight container or cover the cut sections with any leftover frosting you may have. The cake can be stored like this for a week in the refrigerator.
Tips for Making a Mint Chocolate Ombre Cake Roll
- Don’t take your cake roll out of the freezer until you are ready to start putting on the frosting. A cold cake is easier to decorate as it is less delicate. A room temperature cake is tender and fragile which means it is more likely to fall or break apart.
- Gel food coloring works the best for ombre cakes and for this buttercream recipe. A standard food coloring would make the frosting too loose, and it wouldn’t hold its shape.
- For the sprinkles, if you can’t find a St. Patrick’s Day themed mixture, we recommend creating a mixture if jimmies, nonpareils, and jumbo nonpareils. This mixture of sizes, colors, and shapes makes the overall appearance of the cake even more appealing.
How to Blend Your Own Mint Chocolate Ombre Cake Roll
Ingredients
- 1 Dutch Apron® Bakery Chocolate Crème Cake Roll
- 1 c. butter, softened
- 4 c. powdered sugar
- 2-3 TBSP milk
- 1 tsp. mint extract
- Green gel food coloring
- St. Patrick’s Day-themed sprinkles
Instructions
- Make the buttercream frosting. In a stand mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Once the butter is smooth and light in color, add the powdered sugar, 2 TBSP of milk, and the mint extract. Mix on low-medium speed for 1-2 minutes.
- Once combined, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Tip: If your frosting is too stiff, you can add an additional TBSP of milk to help you reach the desired consistency.
- Now, it’s time to color the buttercream. Divide the frosting evenly between three bowls. Set one of the bowls aside for later. This will be the white buttercream.
- Tint the other two bowls with the green gel food coloring. In one bowl, add 2-3 drops to create a light green color. In the second bowl, add 6-7 drops to create a slightly darker shade of green. Adjust the number of drops as necessary, so you can achieve your desired shades of green.
- Scoop each of the colored buttercreams into a separate 12” piping bag. Cut the tips off of the bags.
- Place the frozen Chocolate Crème Cake Roll on a turntable vertically.
- Frost the top of the cake roll with a thick layer of white buttercream. It’s okay if some of the buttercream hangs over the edge. It’ll help blend the top into the sides when you do the ombre effect.
- Add a thick layer of the darker green buttercream on the bottom third of the cake roll. Add a thick layer of the light green buttercream on the middle third of the cake roll. Finally, add a thick layer of white buttercream on the top third of the cake roll. Pipe each color around the cake roll while spinning your turntable slowly.
- Once all your colors have been piped on, smooth the sides out using a cake scraper or offset spatula. This is how you will create the ombre effect.
- Use the offset spatula to fill in any gaps with more buttercream. Then, use the spatula or cake scraper to smooth out the sides of the cake one last time. Finally, use the offset spatula to make the top edges sharp and smooth.
- While the frosting is still wet, it’s time to add the bottom sprinkle layer. Place the cake and turntable on a baking pan; this is to catch any sprinkles that may fall during the process. Pour some of the sprinkles into your hand and press onto the bottom third of the cake. Be careful not to press too hard as that will dent the cake roll. Continue to press sprinkles into the cake roll until the entire bottom is covered.
- Next, it’s time to add the frosting peaks on top of the cake. To do this, take a large 16” piping bag and fit it with an open star 4B piping tip. Fold the top of the piping bag over. Put each of the piping bags with three different colors of frosting into this larger piping bag. Fold the bag back up and twist the tops.
- Test the frosting out on a paper towel before adding to the top of your cake. Place the piping bag close to the surface you’re piping on and apply pressure. Quickly lift up on the tip, away from the cake, and release pressure to get a small peak shape. Repeat all over the top border of your cake roll.
- Finish by adding more sprinkles on the top of the cake.
The Mint Chocolate Ombre Cake Roll takes the classic Chocolate Crème Cake Roll you love and adds a minty green twist for St. Patrick’s Day. Covered in a mint-flavored buttercream frosting and bright sprinkles, this cake is as flavorful as it is colorful. Mint and chocolate are a refreshing and rich flavor combination that is perfectly balanced by the light and fluffy texture of the two frostings. Though beautiful, it’s not overly complicated to make, and it gives you a chance to express your creativity through the decorations. If your St. Patrick’s Day requires something extravagant to set it apart, this is the cake you’ll want to serve.
