This Easy Shamrock Shake Cake Will Make Your Lucky Day

Shamrock Shake Cake is the decadent St. Patty’s Day treat you never knew you needed! 

Who among us can resist the allure of the McDonald’s Shamrock Shake? In spite of the radioactive green color and distinctly artificial flavor, I’ve personally always had a weak spot for them. A million years ago when I was still working a corporate job, the office “fun committee” would always treat the entire floor with a surprise delivery of Shamrock Shakes for all. The practice always made me smile.

So I figured I’d channel that feeling into a Shamrock Shake Cake. Behold! Five layers of mint-flavored goodness, slathered generously in chocolate fudge and whipped topping. This cake is the confectionary equivalent of green beer and thats exactly why its amazing.

Usually, I’m all about homemade, from scratch, no shortcuts. But on a day that starts with Lucky Charms and ends with green beer, all bets are off. This cake is unapologetically chocked with preservatives and artificial ingredients but by God is it fun.

To make this Shamrock Shake Cake, I started with a box of regular white cake mix (Betty Crocker to be exact). A couple teaspoons of mint extract and a whole lot of green food coloring later, it was ready for the pans.

Incidentally, I used Wilton’s “Easy Layers” 6-inch cake pan set, which is designed to make 5 individual cake layers from one standard cake mix. All the pans can fit in the oven at the same time too. If you want to find out more, check out the “Pot of Gold” Rainbow Surprise Cake I made over at The INSPIRED Home.

While the cakes baked and cooled I made the frostings. Since I wanted this cake to have the same distinctive flavor as its namesake shake, I decided that two different semi-homemade frostings would do the trick. The chocolate frosting is a mix of melted chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk thickened on the stovetop. Once cooled, the mixture becomes a rich, gooey, fudge-like glaze.

Of course, a proper Shamrock Shake isn’t complete without a generous dollop of whipped cream, and this Shamrock Shake Cake wouldn’t be either. Since I wanted this frosting to have more body than simple whipped cream, I used a combination of Cool Whip and Vanilla Instant Pudding. The resulting frosting is sweet and fluffy. The perfect counterpoint to the cool mint cake and rich fudge layer.

Top it all off with a cherry and pour yourself a green beer. The leprechauns are coming and they’re sure to be hungry.

Shamrock Shake Cake

Ingredients: 

1 standard white box cake (I used Betty Crocker) plus the ingredients listed on the box
2 teaspoons mint extract (not peppermint)
15 drops green food coloring
1 recipe condensed milk chocolate frosting (see below)
1 recipe Cool Whip Pudding frosting (see below)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray baking pans with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Prepare cake mix according to package instructions. Add mint extract and green food coloring and stir until completely blended.
3. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating pans halfway through cooking time.
4. Remove cakes from oven and cool completely. Chill cakes in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before frosting.
5. When cakes have cooled, place one layer on a serving platter. Spread with a small even layer of chocolate frosting. Add a thin layer of Cool Whip frosting. Repeat until with remaining layers of cake, ending with the top layer of cake and a generous dollop of cool whip frosting. If needed, insert two bamboo skewers lengthwise into cake, to help stabilize it. Chill cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.

Condensed Milk Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Combine chocolate chips, condensed milk and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir mixture continuously until chocolate melts. Continue stirring constantly for 10 minutes, until mixture has thickened.
2. Remove frosting from heat and add vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. Allow frosting to cool to room temperature before frosting cake.

Cool Whip Pudding Frosting

Ingredients: 

1 box Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding
3/4 cup milk
1 tub Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed

Instructions: 

1. Combine pudding and milk in a large bowl and stir until smooth.
2. Gently add whipped topping and fold mixture together with a rubber spatula until completely combined.
3. Keep frosting chilled in the refrigerator until ready to use.

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