Turtle Cake - Cafe Latte

By -
I'm not a person that picks cake. I prefer cheesecake, ice cream, crepes... However, I think this is a great chocolate cake recipe and if my children ever want a chocolate cake for their birthday, this just might be my go to. This recipe & image is from Cafe Latte, a local restaurant out here that makes fabulous desserts.


Cake Ingredients:
• 1 Egg.
• 2/3 cup Vegetable oil.
• 1 cup Buttermilk.
• 2 cups Flour.
• 1 3/4 cups Sugar.
• 1/2 cup cocoa.
• 1 tsp. Salt.
• 1 tbsp. Baking soda.
• 1 cup Hot coffee *see note below

Frosting:
• 1/2 cup Milk.
• 1 cup Sugar.
• 6 tbsp. Butter
• 2 cups Good-quality semisweet chocolate chips.

• 3/4 cup Caramel.
• 1 1/2 cups Toasted pecans.

Prepare oven and pans: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Cover each bottom with disk of parchment paper.

To make cake: In bowl, combine egg, oil and buttermilk. In large separate bowl, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Gradually add wet ingredients to dry until well mixed. Gradually add hot coffee. Scrape batter into prepared pans.

To bake cake: Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cake rest in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool.

To make frosting: Mix sugar and milk in saucepan. Add butter. Bring to a boil.
Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips to pan. Using wire whisk, mix until smooth. If frosting is too thick or grainy, add 1 or 2 teaspoons hot water.

To assemble cake: Place one cooled cake layer, top-side down, on cake plate. Spread with one-third of frosting, pushing it out gently from edges to make a petal effect.
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans, Drizzle with 1/4 cup caramel. Add nest layer, again top-side down. Repeat frosting and sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans and drizzle with 1/4 cup caramel. And final layer top-

*Note: I had this cake a few times, only to find out later that it is made with coffee. Never tasted it when I ate it. But you could probably guess, I don't have coffee so I didn't add it. Instead I used hot water with an extra tablespoon of chocolate. In one batch I added a tad cinnamon and thought that was very good. I think the Cafe Latte slices tasted better, maybe it was the coffee, but in any case, this was still good without.

Comments

Post a Comment

what do you think?

Popular posts from this blog

Vegetarian Lasagna - Moosewood

By -
Image
Lighter Lasagne, from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites This lasagne is so rich with vegetables, herbs, and wine that you'll never mis the extra cheese and fat that we're accustomed to finding in standard recipes. Serves 6-8, preparation time 40 minutes, baking time 60-70 minutes. 2 cups cubed zucchini 1 cup cubed bell peppers 1 cup chopped tomatoes 4 cups sliced mushrooms (about 12 ounces) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup dry red wine 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil 10 ounces fresh spinach, rinsed 2 cups low-fat cottage cheese 1 cup grated low-fat mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 recipe Tomato Wine sauce (page 350) or 3 1/2 cups prepared tomato sauce 1 pound uncooked lasagne noodles (see Note, page 216) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, salt, and wine in a saucepan, bring to a boil, cover, and then simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes, until all of the vegetables are tender and
Read more

Lentil Vegetable Soup

By -
Image
Josh got me to try some lentil soup at Corner Bakery. I was nervous, because I have not liked lentils in the past, but in the past few years I have grown to love many things I hadn't previously. And I liked it! So I immediately went on the hunt for a "copy cat" recipe, and though I have no idea if this is in fact the same, all three of us enjoyed it!  Lentil Vegetable Soup 2/3 c green lentils 1/3 c orange lentils (you can really use whatever lentils you wants) 1 lg onion, roughly chopped 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 lg tomato, chopped 1-2 carrots, diced 1/2 c mushrooms 1/2 bunch spinach or 2-3 big leaves of kale, chopped fine 1/4 c corn 2-4 c vegetable/chicken broth S&P to taste Combine and wash all lentils and set aside. In a pot, heat some olive oil and saute onions, carrots, and garlic till onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms, and some salt. Saute a few minutes until they get soft, then add the tomatoes. Cover and let t
Read more

Galette des Rois

By -
Image
January 6 is the Epiphany, a day to celebrate when the 3 kings visited Baby Jesus.  I think it is a Catholic holiday.  I learned about it while in France and love the tradition of making a galette des rois/Kings Cake.   The tradition goes you make the cake with a hidden bean inside.  The youngest person at the table sits under the table.  As a slice of cake is plated, the youngster names who gets that slice.  (make sure you slice the cake so you have only as many slices as you do people eating the cake)  Whoever finds the hidden bean is the King or Queen for the evening and wears a crown.  This year, I think I improved my recipe, with more almond filling than I normally add.  I thought it was going to end up messy but instead it made it yummier.  I had some extra filling and decided to make a mini kings cake with the extra puff pastry.  I added some fresh raspberries which tasted quite yummy all warm in the cake.  Though I think I prefer it without the berries.  Try it out, it is reall
Read more