Ingredients for Chocolate Cake:
8 oz Dark Chocolate
1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Strong Coffee or Espresso
1 Stick Butter - room temperature
1 Tablespoon Raw Cacao Powder
4 Eggs
1 Tablespoon Kahlua Coffee Liqueur
8 oz Dark Chocolate
1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Strong Coffee or Espresso
1 Stick Butter - room temperature
1 Tablespoon Raw Cacao Powder
4 Eggs
1 Tablespoon Kahlua Coffee Liqueur
Directions for the chocolate cake:
Use two 3 Cup square or rectangle shaped, baking safe dishes. Line both pans with buttered parchment paper, width and lengthwise. This is shown in the first picture above. For a full sized cake, simply double recipe and use two 8 inch spring board pans, lining the bottom with a circular piece of buttered parchment paper.
Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave, stirring in 30 second intervals. Once dark chocolate is melted, add coffee and Kahlua Liqueur and continue to stir until fully combined. The mixture should look thick, like the picture in the middle above. Meanwhile, in a large standing mixer, cream together butter, sugars, and eggs one at a time, until all ingredients are combined. Add the cacao powder and the chocolate/coffee mixture to the creamed ingredients and mix at medium speed for a minute or two. Once all the ingredients are thoroughly combined, pour batter into the prepared parchment paper lined pans and bake at 350 for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. When cakes are fully baked, carefully remove the pans from the oven and place them onto a wire rack to cool. Once the cakes have significantly cooled down, place the pans in the refrigerator for at least three hours, but ideally over night.
NOTE: I knew that I wanted my Birthday Week cake to be tiered instead of layered, so I cut down one of the cakes after it cooled. While I was thinking about possibly incorporating the extra chocolate cake chunks into the finished cake, in the blink of an eye my boyfriend unceremoniously ate all of the pieces. Oh well, the extra pieces would have probably taken away from the chocolate shards anyhow. ;)
Use two 3 Cup square or rectangle shaped, baking safe dishes. Line both pans with buttered parchment paper, width and lengthwise. This is shown in the first picture above. For a full sized cake, simply double recipe and use two 8 inch spring board pans, lining the bottom with a circular piece of buttered parchment paper.
Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave, stirring in 30 second intervals. Once dark chocolate is melted, add coffee and Kahlua Liqueur and continue to stir until fully combined. The mixture should look thick, like the picture in the middle above. Meanwhile, in a large standing mixer, cream together butter, sugars, and eggs one at a time, until all ingredients are combined. Add the cacao powder and the chocolate/coffee mixture to the creamed ingredients and mix at medium speed for a minute or two. Once all the ingredients are thoroughly combined, pour batter into the prepared parchment paper lined pans and bake at 350 for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. When cakes are fully baked, carefully remove the pans from the oven and place them onto a wire rack to cool. Once the cakes have significantly cooled down, place the pans in the refrigerator for at least three hours, but ideally over night.
NOTE: I knew that I wanted my Birthday Week cake to be tiered instead of layered, so I cut down one of the cakes after it cooled. While I was thinking about possibly incorporating the extra chocolate cake chunks into the finished cake, in the blink of an eye my boyfriend unceremoniously ate all of the pieces. Oh well, the extra pieces would have probably taken away from the chocolate shards anyhow. ;)
Ingredients for the Dark Chocolate Shards:
One Dark Chocolate Bar broken up and melted - around 3 oz
Directions for the Chocolate Shards:
Melt dark chocolate and spread on a long piece of parchment paper. Cover with another piece of parchment paper and carefully smooth out the air bubbles. Roll up both pieces together with the melted chocolate in the middle and place the tube in the refrigerator to harden. My cake was not very tall, so I cut a long piece of parchment paper in half lengthwise and used one piece to spread the chocolate on and the other to cover the first one with. It's also a good idea to place the roll seam side down on foil, a pan or a plate, just in case the melted chocolate leaks out.
One Dark Chocolate Bar broken up and melted - around 3 oz
Directions for the Chocolate Shards:
Melt dark chocolate and spread on a long piece of parchment paper. Cover with another piece of parchment paper and carefully smooth out the air bubbles. Roll up both pieces together with the melted chocolate in the middle and place the tube in the refrigerator to harden. My cake was not very tall, so I cut a long piece of parchment paper in half lengthwise and used one piece to spread the chocolate on and the other to cover the first one with. It's also a good idea to place the roll seam side down on foil, a pan or a plate, just in case the melted chocolate leaks out.
Once the chocolate shards have hardened and you are ready to stick them to the freshly applied ganache, slowly unroll the tube apart. Do this by holding the bottom layer of the parchment paper, while you pull up the top layer. The broken shard effect is awesome and even through it looks fancy, it is incredibly easy to do.
Ingredients for the Chocolate Ganache:
3 oz Dark Chocolate
1 Tablespoons Butter
1 1/2 teaspoons Raw Honey
1 1/2 teaspoons Milk
Optional filling layer:
1/4 Cup Biscoff Cookie Butter Spread - Creamy (For the bottom layer)
1/8 Cup Biscoff Cookie Butter Spread - Creamy (For the top layer)
If you decide to add an easy filling layer, simply melt Cookie Butter until it's thin enough to spread over the cakes. You could also use melted creamy peanut butter, instead of Cookie Butter. After applying the filling, you will need to return your cake to the refrigerator again, for at least an hour. The filling needs to be hard and cold before spreading the chocolate ganache on top, that way they do not melt and mix together.
3 oz Dark Chocolate
1 Tablespoons Butter
1 1/2 teaspoons Raw Honey
1 1/2 teaspoons Milk
Optional filling layer:
1/4 Cup Biscoff Cookie Butter Spread - Creamy (For the bottom layer)
1/8 Cup Biscoff Cookie Butter Spread - Creamy (For the top layer)
If you decide to add an easy filling layer, simply melt Cookie Butter until it's thin enough to spread over the cakes. You could also use melted creamy peanut butter, instead of Cookie Butter. After applying the filling, you will need to return your cake to the refrigerator again, for at least an hour. The filling needs to be hard and cold before spreading the chocolate ganache on top, that way they do not melt and mix together.
Directions for the Chocolate Ganache:
Melt all ingredients in a double boiler or in a microwave for 10 second intervals. Stir until fully combined and spread ganache generously over cakes.
Immediately press on the chocolate shards onto the newly applied ganache in whatever fashion you would like. Cool in the refrigerator to set for at least an hour and enjoy!!!!
Melt all ingredients in a double boiler or in a microwave for 10 second intervals. Stir until fully combined and spread ganache generously over cakes.
Immediately press on the chocolate shards onto the newly applied ganache in whatever fashion you would like. Cool in the refrigerator to set for at least an hour and enjoy!!!!
Makes 6 to 8 slices of Dark Chocolate Cake