Tipsy Grasshopper Cocktail

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, so we thought we'd share with you a green cocktail recipe that's THE one you'll want to have in your hand when you're celebrating. (It's THAT good.)

This St. Patrick's Day, we are mixing up Tipsy Grasshoppers in the Harris Sisters' kitchen. We love a sweet drink with a little kick to it, so we thought this festive green one would be just the ticket for the occasion. And if you're a fan of mint and chocolate together, then this drink is for you!

We gathered our ingredients together (and sprinkled a little confetti for good measure). Here's what you'll need to make each drink:

Tipsy Grasshopper

1/2 oz creme de menthe
2 oz white chocolate liqueur
1 oz vodka
gold sugar crystals (to rim glasses)
light corn syrup (to rim glasses)

1. Rim glasses with gold sugar crystals if desired (directions follow).
2. Mix creme de menthe, white chocolate liqueur, and vodka in a shaker with ice and strain into the decorated glass. 

What St. Paddy's Day celebration can be complete without a little gold? If you really want to be fancy, you can rim your glasses with gold sugar crystals like we did. Decorated rims are easier to make than you might think.

How to Rim a Glass

1. Cover the bottom of a medium plate with light corn syrup.
2. Cover the bottom of a different medium-sized plate with gold sugar crystals (or other garnish).
3. Flip your glass upside-down and dip the rim into the syrup on the first plate.
4. Then, dip the sticky rim into the garnish on the second plate to coat.

Cheers! And Happy St. Patrick's Day from The Harris Sisters!

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Chocolate Cake with Mint Frosting

We've just finished celebrating Jaxon's birthday again this year. Fun fact about Jaxon: he was born on 8/8/08. The number 8 is considered to be lucky in China, and this year was his eighth birthday, so we've joked that this was his "lucky" birthday.

So, what did the lucky birthday boy request for his birthday cake this year?

He wanted a chocolate cake with mint frosting. Since this was no ordinary cake, I decorated it with Junior Mints for our Birthday Boy and it was delicious! This scratch cake was simple to make and you'll be able to make one for yourself in no time flat. Lucky you!

Chocolate Cake with Mint Frosting
(Junior Mints Cake)

CAKE

Hershey's Perfectly Perfect Chocolate Cake

FROSTING

1 cup butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

4 drops of green food coloring

GARNISH

22 Junior Mints candies

1. Prepare Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake as directed. Let cool.
2. In a large bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, milk, and peppermint extract. 
3. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add the food coloring. Beat until blended. 
4. Use to frost cake as desired. 
5. Arrange 15 Junior Mints candies around outside perimeter of cake. Place one Junior Mint in the center of the cake and arrange the remaining 6 Junior Mints around that candy to create a flower pattern.
6. Refrigerate cake.

The Hershey's Perfectly Perfect Chocolate Cake is a tried and true Harris Sisters recipe. Harris Sister Deanna has it every year for her birthday cake.

It might also taste good with these other frosting recipes - give them a looksee:

Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting

Cherry Dr. Pepper Frosting

Nutella Frosting

Fudge Frosting

Green Velvet Cake

I recently made this cake per request for Jaxon's birthday. Each year, we serve bakery cupcakes for birthday party guests (to avoid any potential food allergy reactions), and the birthday boy gets to choose whatever cake he wants for me to make for him to share with the family later that same week.

This also allows us to extend birthday celebrations a little longer, which is fine by me because 1) my boys are truly worth celebrating BIG and 2) more cake! ;-)

This year, I was given very specific instructions to make a "red velvet cake - except make it green." Well, since the only thing that makes a red velvet cake "red" is the food coloring, I figured that wouldn't be too hard to do.

Green Velvet Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 Tbsp cocoa

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

1 oz. green food coloring

Cream Cheese frosting (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans. Set aside.
2. Place all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix together well with a wire whisk. Set aside.
3. Lightly beat eggs in a separate medium bowl with wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with whisk until blended.
4. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with electric mixer on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined.
5. Divide batter evenly into cake pans. Drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
6. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Then, loosen the sides of the cakes from the pans and turn out onto cooling racks for another 10 minutes. 
8. Frost with Cream Cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine butter, vanilla, and cream cheese. Cream until light and fluffy.
2. Add confectioner's sugar a little at a time, mixing after each addition until combined.
3. Apply to cool cake as per directions above.

Notes:

To make a red velvet cake, my recipe calls for 2 oz. red food coloring (probably because red is such a hard color to achieve and 1 oz. would result in pink).

We made this as a birthday cake, and it would certainly fit the bill for Incredible Hulk or Oscar the Grouch fans BUT keep this cake in mind as an alternative to red velvet for Christmas (think Grinch!) or as a yummy treat for St. Patrick's Day. The possibilities are endless!

Grasshopper Poke Cake

One of Ryan Barrett Walkush's absolute favorite things is mint. So, when I happened upon this recipe, I knew that the right thing to do was to stash it away and test it out on his birthday. It was the right thing to do.

This cake is layers of chocolate and mint yummi-ness. Hard to go wrong. And while we used it as a birthday cake, this would also make the perfect dessert to bring to any upcoming Summer and holiday cookouts.

Grasshopper Poke Cake

1 box of devil's food cake mix

3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

14.5 oz can sweetened condensed milk

12.8 oz jar hot fudge sauce

10 oz package Keebler Grasshopper Mint & Fudge Cookies, crushed

16 oz container Cool Whip 

2 capfuls peppermint flavoring

4.67 oz package Andes Mints, chopped

green food coloring (if desired)

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 11 x 13 pan. Set aside.
2. Place the cake mix, cocoa powder, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute until ingredients are incorporated. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. The batter should look well blended.
3. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 28 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
4. Use the bottom of a wooden spoon to poke holes evenly across the entire cake (about 24 holes). Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk over the cake, making sure to fill the holes.
5. Heat the hot fudge sauce in a small bowl in the microwave to soften, about 15 seconds.
6. Mix half of the crumbled cookies into the hot fudge sauce. Spread the cookie/fudge sauce over the cake, making sure to fill the holes.
7. In a large bowl, mix together 2 capfuls of peppermint flavoring and the Cool Whip. If desired, add green food coloring until desired color is achieved. Spread the whipped topping over the fudge layer.
8. Spread the remaining cookie crumbs over top of the Cool Whip. Sprinkle the chopped Andes Mint over top.
9. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Notes: 

If an even easier version of this recipe is desired, prepare the boxed cake mix according to package directions. Directions given are for a Doctored Devil's Food Cake and this same cake can be paired with your favorite frosting in lieu of making as a poke cake.

If you are interested in other Doctored Cake Mix Recipes, give these a looksee:

Doctored Confetti Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Doctored Cake with Strawberry Filling and Frosting

Doctored Reese's Peanut Butter Cake