I had mentioned in 1-8: Delicious Cocktail Snacks that I had attended a birthday party recently–I used 16-37: Double Decadent Brownie Torte as part of the birthday cake that I made for it. This is one I’ve made before, and this time I kept some of the changes I made the first time.
I noted that I made this with Kahlúa whipped cream the first time. I did that this time too, along with a Kahlúa pastry cream to layer between 2 layers of torte.
The first time, I made this in a single layer, with some Kahlúa-flavored whipped cream on top of each slice. This time, we’re going bigger and more complex. Because why not?
Ingredients. I was too lazy to dig the walnuts and pecans out from the way back of the cabinet, so I went with some toasted & chopped macadamia nuts left over from 17-61: Vanilla Chip Cookies. Good thing I bought the BIG bag of chocolate chips at Costco–I went through a lot of this bag in this project.
Doubled everything, including the pans. I thought about doing one cake and slicing it, but I think it’ll be too thin/crumbly to do properly.
Melting butter.
Mixing the butter and corn syrup with an absurdly oversized whisk. All the others were in the dishwasher at this point.
Whisking in the chocolate as it melts, still with my big whisk.
Cracking eggs. I had to crack and separate almost a dozen for the pastry cream I layered in between my torte layers. I neglected to take pictures of that since it was not part of Simply Delicious, but it’s essentially this recipe/method with Kahlúa mixed in.
Incorporating sugar & eggs with the chocolate/corn syrup/butter mixture on the stove.
Batter poured into both pans, about as even as I can get it.
And after baking. Pretty even and solid. We could stop here. Make the glaze, cover them, and move on. But no. We’re going bigger…but not yet.
I stop here for now, because the cake won’t make it the 30 mile drive to the party fully assembled. Therefore, the final parts will be done there. Cakes are transported like this, pastry cream separate and chilled, items for glaze packed to be cooked on site.
On site (notice the different lighting). Pastry cream is spread on the cooled bottom layer. Make sure the cake is FULLY cooled or the cream will disintegrate.
Making the chocolate glaze (recipe doubled because it’s got to cover more area) with another (but different, and not mine) absurdly large whisk.
Cake layered, glazed (as best I could do with what I had), and put into the fridge to chill. I put it on parchment paper to easily remove it and plate it a bit cleaner later on. Let it chill and set for a few hours, and then put the final decorations on it.
Final cake. Whipped cream dollops are Kahlúa-flavored whipped cream (like the first time). Pastry cream is there, poking out from between the two torte layers. It was a delicious, DENSE chocolate cake, and it was heartily enjoyed by all, including the birthday celebrant.
Grade: A
