Friday, June 29, 2012

10. Cocoa Liqueur Chocolate Cake





The leaves were turning yellow and there was a chill of gloom in the air as the days were getting colder. The evening closed in for the arrival of another weekend and I missed the warmth of the beautiful sunny days. With nothing much to do I snuggled up in the couch, when suddenly the phone rang announcing that we are gonna have a birthday party for M in less than 4 hours. That brightened me up...but wait...what gift to get at the last moment...oh no!! Hmmm....I think I have an idea, since its a last minute planning....no one’s going to get a cake...the birthday cake! But it’s too late to do a fancy cake...and I have just got 2 hours in hand...what’s the recipe? frosting, no frosting? but the cakes won't cool down...oh...oh...time's ticking...get the pans, where's the flour, butter's too cold....panic...panic...panic....deeeep breath. Stop. My eyes run past this life saver recipe...In minutes, it’s measuring, sifting, mixing and ...voila! The cake's in the oven. I decide on no frosting, but am pleased about the idea of a warm syrup and crunchy nuts over the cake....and off to celebrate a heartwarming year ahead for our friend.


Cocoa Liqueur Chocolate Cake
Serves: 14

Cake recipe: Chocolate Layer Cake, Rose's Heavenly Cakes (page 104- 105)
The recipe was used to make a single cake and was not split to make layers.

Cocoa liqueur recipe: Cocoa Syrup, Rose's Heavenly Cakes (page 120)
Instead of the liqueur used in the original recipe, I used non alcoholic red wine.
The warm liqueur was poured gently on the cake as soon as it came out of the oven.

Chopped hazelnuts:
1/4 cup (25 g) hazelnuts
1. Set the oven temperature to 180o C.
2. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes, taking care to stir twice or thrice. When the skins on the nuts loosen, it indicates the right moment to take it out of the oven.
3. Remove the skin by rolling it in a towel or between the palms of your hands.
4. Chop the nuts finely and gently stick it to the sides of the cake.



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