Peppermint Swirl Mousse Cake & Peppermint Brookies- Holiday Recipes

Over the holiday weekend, I served party guests the most amazing Peppermint Swirl Mousse Cake made using Nestle products and am sharing the recipe with you today as part of a #CollectiveBias sponsored campaign. #HolidayMadeSimple

On Friday night, after a day spent riding go carts, playing laser tag, and winning prizes at our local arcade, my family gathered at our house for dinner and a movie. Being I had been out all day having fun, I whipped up a quick and easy meal of Stouffer's Lasagna with Meat & Sauce, salad, and bread.

For dessert, I prepared Dark Chocolate Peppermint Brookies a combo of brownies topped with Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, and a Peppermint Swirl Mousse Cake that had the most incredible fudgy brownie layer made using Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels topped with a lusciously refreshing white chocolate peppermint mousse. To make this dessert extra festive, I used crushed peppermint candy canes to decorate the top to look like a starlight mint.

Before dinner was even served, my mom had to test out the mousse cake. As soon as she spotted it, she wanted a bite. She loves peppermint, so I figured she was going to like it.

I hadn't even tried the dessert yet. I don't often entertain and serve something I've not tried before, but I had confidence that this dessert was going to be good. I just didn't realize how good.

My mom took a bite, and told me she wanted to skip dinner and just eat cake. My mom isn't a big sweet eater, so I knew that was a good sign.

She did sit down and enjoy some lasagna with all of us and saved some of her cake for dessert.

After I served everyone a slice of each of the desserts, I sat down to enjoy some myself. I was so full from the meal, but was anxious to try them and found myself licking my dessert plate clean.

The brookie was good, but the cake was incredible.

Everyone requested the mousse cake be served at Christmas dinner this year. It instantly became a new family favorite.

Peppermint Swirl Mousse Cake (serves 12)

Ingredients:

Brownie layer -

1 bag (12 ounces) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into ½ inch slices

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

¾ cup flourWhite Chocolate Peppermint Mousse layer -

1 teaspoon powdered gelatin

1 tablespoon cold water

2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

10 ounces Nestle's Premier White Morsels
¼ cup sifted confectioners (powdered) sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons peppermint extractDecoration - 
6 candy canes
optional, red gel or paste food coloring

Supplies:


10 inch springform pan
optional, clear acetate cake strip

Instructions:

Brownie Layer - 


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

Spray springform pan with non-stick baking spray. 

Place the semi-sweet chocolate morsels and butter into a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high power for 20-30 second increments, stirring after each, until melted.

Stir in sugar, eggs, and flour. Pour into the springform pan. Bake for 26-30 minutes.

Cool completely.

White Chocolate Peppermint Mousse Layer -Sprinkle powdered gelatin over water and set aside to bloom for five minutes. Heat ⅔ cup of the heavy whipping cream just until it boils and stir in the gelatin until melted. Pour over white morsels. Let sit a minute, then stir until melted. If by chance all of the white chocolate does not melt, you can heat it for 10 seconds in the microwave.

Combine the remaining 1 ⅓ cups heavy whipping cream, confectioners sugar and peppermint extract. Whisk to stiff peaks. Stir ⅓ of the whipped cream into the white chocolate then fold in the rest. The mousse will be light and fluffy.

Pour the mousse over the brownie layer and spread it in an even layer then refrigerate it for at least 4 hours.

Note: I lined the pan with a clear acetate cake strip just to be sure that when I un-molded the cake it came out nice and clean. If you don't use one, you might want to freeze the cake for about 30 minutes, just to ensure your mousse easily pulls away from the side of the pan.

Meanwhile, crush your candy canes into a fine powder. If you want, you can add some red food coloring to make the candy more vibrantly red.

Use a toothpick to draw out the starlight mint pattern on top of the peppermint mousse cake then sprinkle the crushed candy cane over top to create a red and white swirl pattern. I even marked which swirls would be filled with red candy.

I found it easiest to create a guide out of non-stick tin foil. I folded it over into a 3 inch wide strip then shaped it like one individual swirl shape, set it on top of the mousse and sprinkled on the crushed peppermint candy. It worked great.

If you use the template, clean it off every time you pick it up and move it.

I refrigerated my cake overnight before taking the final pictures and as you can see the peppermint candy started to melt a bit. It was actually a very cool looking effect and when we ate the cake the mints were only slightly crunchy which was nice.

If you want a more crisp looking starlight mint on top, add your candies no more than an hour before serving. If you like the brighter red melting candy look, then decorate the cake earlier.

Peppermint Swirl Mousse Cake is our family's new favorite holiday dessert. You can find the recipe at Hungry Happenings later today. #HolidayMadeSimple #ad

A video posted by Beth Jackson Klosterboer (@hungryhappenings) on Dec 12, 2014 at 7:48am

PST

I also made a Dark Chocolate Peppermint Brookie using a boxed brownie mix and some Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. It was the first time I made brookies, and put them into a pan that was too small. I poured a brownie mix into an 8 inch pan then topped it with the squares of cookie dough and baked it for almost an hour. I want to try these again in a 9x13 pan. I'm sure they'd be amazing if baked properly, but in the small pan the edges got dried out before the center was baked. Oh, well, there's always next time.

The Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cookies are available for a limted time only, so I plan to go back to Walmart to buy some more so I can try making the brookies again during the holiday season. Everyone in my family really liked the flavor of the dark chocolate peppermint cookies and they paired well with the brownie.

Something else I am anxious to try, but didn't have time before the party, was Nestle's Toll House Rolled Sugar Cookie Dough Sheets. They are pre-rolled to the perfect thickness, so all you have to do is cut and bake. That is such a time saver.

I think they would be perfect for a fruit pizza or jumbo cookie decorated like a Christmas Card.

As much as I like to bake and cook from scratch, I do appreciate prepared products which help make entertaining at the holidays easier. My family had a great day together and I didn't have to spend every moment in the kitchen.Hey, I have some fun news, Nestle is hosting a giveaway. They'll be giving away $1,600 in Nestle Gift Baskets. 8 winners will
receive a $100 Nestle gift basket and 2 winners will receive a $400
grand prize Nestle gift basket.
Nestlé Holiday Sweepstakes

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HolidayMadeSimple #CollectiveBias 

Be sure to check out all my fun Christmas Recipes! 

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Beth

Hi, I'm Beth Jackson Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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