Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour three 6-inch cake pans or two 8-inch cake pans. Butter and flour your cake pans. If you’re like me and are a little paranoid of a cake sticking, line it with parchment, too. Set the pans aside. See below for link as to how to bake cake layers flat. I do this every single time and it’s SO helpful. Also, I own only two 6-inch cake pans and I baked up the first two layers first and then the third last. The batter was a-ok to do this!

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand-up mixer (with the paddle attachment), add the all-purpose flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined. Next, crack in the egg and egg yolk, pour in the buttermilk, warm water, olive oil and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth, about 1 minute. The batter will be thinner than cake batter that you’re probably used to—that’s ok!

Divide the cake batter amongst the cake pans and transfer to the oven to bake for 27 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Clean out the bowl you used to make the cake and dry it thoroughly. While the cakes are cooling, make the frosting.

To a blender or food processor, add the cacao nibs. Pulse until the cacao nibs are broken into tiny pieces. Mine were pretty big so this helped a lot! Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment, add the butter and heavy cream. Beat until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Take the paddle attachment off and place a sieve on top of the bowl, sift in the powdered sugar. Turn the mixer to low until the powdered sugar is almost incorporated. Add the peppermint extract and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Add one drop of blue food coloring gel and then 1 drop of yellow food gel coloring. I was pretty happy with this color but if you’re using coloring vs. gel, you might need to add an additional drop of each. Lastly, add the pulsed cacao nibs and mix one last time, until it’s evenly dispersed throughout the frosting.

Place one layer on a cake board or cake stand or plate (I also love turning plates upside down and using them as cake stands). Add about 1/4 cup (you can eyeball this measurement) to the top of the first cake layer; smooth it out so it’s a nice even layer of frosting. Place the second layer on top and repeat the process. Since the frosting has lil’ bits of cacao nibs in it, it’s not an ideal piping texture. I skipped the piping and made little swoops all around the cake and topped it with some more cacao nibs! Slice it up and serve.