I’m gun-shy when it comes to mint. Last year at Christmastime, I made a peppermint/candy cane type cake. I used the foolish logic that if a little mint flavoring is good, a lot is better. It will forever be remembered as the “toothpaste cake” at our house. My son Joseph will eat anything, so he had the toothpaste cake all to himself. When I announced this morning that I was attempting another mint cake, there were groans and eye-rolls at my house.

Good news: using restraint with mint flavoring works! This chocolate cake with mint-chocolate-chip icing is tasty. One of my sons is too afraid to even try it, but Joseph and I just had a nice big piece. And we now have very fresh breath.