By Special Request, here is the recipe for the cake I am bringing to our Sunday School party this weekend. I have never made this cake before, but it was not hard. It did, however, take some time. I also like that most of the ingredients could be found in my pantry. It did not take anything special, but I do believe the end result will be fabulous.
1 cup butter
1/4 unsweetened cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose floour
1/2 tsp salt
Chocolate ganache
Praline Frosting
Grease bottoms of 3 (8") round cake pans; line with wax paper. Grease and flour wax paper and sides of pan.
Cook first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat; stirring constantly, until butter melts and mixture is smooth; remove from heat. Cool.
Beat buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add butter mixture to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. Combine sugar, flour, and salt; gradually add to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. (Batter will be thin) Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans; immediately remove wax paper. Cool completely on wire racks. (Layers will appear thin)
Spread about 1/2 cup ganache between cake layers; spread remainder on sides of cake (do not frost top of cak). Chill cake 30 minutes. Pour praline frosting slowly over top of cake, spreading to edges, and allowing some frosting to run over sides of cake.
Chocolate Ganache
2 cups (12 oz) semisweet chocolate morsels
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
Microwave chocolate morsels and cram in a glass bowl on MEDIUM (50%) power 2-3 minutes or until morsels are melted, stirring after 1 1/2 minutes; whisk until smooth. Gradually add butter, whisking until smooth. Cool, whisking often, about 25 minutes or until spreading consistency.
Praline Frosting
*Don't prepare this candylike frosting ahead because it'll harden very quickly.
1/4 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring often; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat, and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add toasted pecans, stirring gently 3-5 minutes or until frosting begins to cool and thicken slightly. Pour frosting immediately over cake.
Until next time,
Enjoy!
