White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Cake

Soft Peppermint Cake baked into a Pretzel Crust with White Chocolate Peppermint Buttercream.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, then prep three 6” cake rounds with a swipe of shortening and dust of flour to prevent sticking. Set aside.
In a food processor, blend together the butter, pretzels and brown sugar until a fine crust forms. Press the crust firmly into the prepared baking pans with the bottom of a glass or measuring cup for an even layer.
In a large mixing bowl, hand whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, egg whites, oil, vanilla, and peppermint extract until thoroughly combined.
Then sift in the cake mix and whisk until just combined. Do not overmix. Split the batter evenly between the prepared cake rounds.
Bake for 30-32 minutes until the center is baked through. Remove cake rounds from the oven, then let the cakes cool in the pan for a minute before flipping them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap and chill cakes before assembly.

In a small microwave safe bowl, stir together the white chocolate and heavy cream and heat for 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir, then repeat until the white chocolate chips have melted completely. Let cool for about 3 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip up the butter until it’s light and fluffy, then add in the white chocolate ganache mixture, salt, vanilla, and peppermint extract. Whip up to combine and then scrape down the sides with a spatula.
With the stand mixer on low speed, add in the powdered sugar about a half cup at a time. It will be thick. Add in a little more heavy cream to thin it out if needed (1 Tablespoon at a time from the 1/4 cup listed at the end), and then flip the mixer on high speed for 2 minutes to lighten the color and texture of the buttercream.

Place a cardboard cake round on a cake turntable. Spread on a little bit of buttercream in the center of the round and spread it out with an angled icing spatula. Place down the first chilled cake layer in the center (crust side up). Add on an even layer of buttercream; spread it thin with an angled icing spatula. Add on the next cake layer and repeat.
Crumb coat the cake, freeze for 2 minutes, then add on a final coat of white buttercream. Use the stripe cake comb to create clean indents (I have several tutorials for this on my Instagram page).
Freeze the cake for about 15 minutes. While the cake is in the freezer, tint the remaining buttercream with red gel coloring (the color will intensify with time, so you don't need to go overboard on the coloring). Add the red buttercream to a piping bag without a tip and pipe in the thin stripes.
Working quickly, smooth out the red buttercream until the clean stripes start to form (it takes time, so have patience and watch those stripes slowly start to appear while applying a little pressure).
Add on a little crushed peppermint along the bottom outside of the cake, then pipe (with the Wilton 1M piping tip) swirls on top. Top it all off with a few white chocolate peppermint pretzels and a little sprinkle of crushed peppermint.