European Mocha Fudge Cake

 
Inside the Kitchen:
I first made this dessert for my mom on Mothers Day. It was a pretty risky choice since it is generally better to practice making a dessert beforehand, rather than trying a new recipe on a special occasion. I followed the simple recipe though and it turned out amazing! Since then I have made this dessert several times and it is now my personal favorite!

European Mocha Fudge Cake
Makes 10-12 servings

Items Required:
Two 9 inch round baking pans
Wax paper
Scissors
Small saucepan
Stirring utensil
Large mixing bowl
Mixer (hand, or stationary will do)
Spatula
Cooling rack
Potato peeler

Ingredients
1 1/4 Cups (2 1/2 sticks) Butter
3/4    Cup Hersheys Special Dark Cocoa (Unsweetened)
4       Eggs
1/4    Teaspoon salt
1       Teaspoon Vanilla
2       Cups sugar
1       Cup all-purpose flour
1       Cup of pecans (I prefer Almonds)
1       Creamy Coffee Filling (Recipe Follows)
1       Giant Hershey bar

1# Heat oven to 350 degrees, Butter bottoms and sides of two 9-inch round baking pans. Line bottom of pans with wax paper (use your scissors and cutting a 9-inch circle out of the wax paper).

2# Melt butter in a small saucepan; remove from heat. Add cocoa, stirring until blended; Cool slightly. Beat eggs in a large bowl until foamy; add salt and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add cooled chocolate and butter mixture; blend thoroughly. Fold in flour. Stir in pecans. Pour mixture into prepared pans.

3# Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Do not overbake. Cool 5 minutes before removing cake from pans (It may help to slide a butter knife around the edges of the pan to help it detach the sides of the pan). Place cakes on a wire rack to cool and gently peel of wax paper from bottom. cool cake completely. Make Creamy Coffee Filling.


4# Creamy Coffee Filling
1 1/2 Cups cold whipping cream
1/3    Cup packed brown sugar
2       Teaspoons of powdered instant coffee

Combine all ingredients inside your mixing bowl, start the mixer. Warning: If you start the mixture on a high speed then it can easily slosh right out of the bowl, it is advised that you raise the speed as the cream gets stiffer.  Stop the mixer once your whipped cream is creating stiff peaks, unless you want to make coffee flavored butter! ;) Lay one of the rounds of your cake on the plate that you wish it to be presented on, then begin to frost the top and sides of it. Once thickly frosted, place the second round of cake on top of the first. Proceed in the frosting the very top of the cake and the sides of it.


5# Once coated with the coffee flavored whip cream, get your potato peeler and chocolate bar out (See Tip at bottom of page). Begin to peel the chocolate with your peeler, it will then create beautiful chocolate curls! Proceed in garnishing the whole top of your cake with elegant curls :)

Tip: You want your chocolate to be slightly cooler than room temperature but not quite as chilled as the fridge, what works best is to refrigerate it then let it sit out ten minutes before using. That is the key to perfect curls!

~Recipe courtesy of the Hershey's cookbook