Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut and Rum Frosting

“Where have you been?” you may be asking. Between work, new projects, and family and friends, writing has taken the backseat. However, that does not mean that I have taken a break from cooking and trying new recipes. In fact, I just made my first chocolate cake from scratch (frosting included). My intention was to post this recipe on Sunday so you could make it for your significant other for Valentine’s Day… but, as I mentioned earlier, life got in the way and I didn’t have time to type the recipe. Oh well, you don’t need to wait until next Valentine’s Day because you can make this cake anytime of the year for anyone who occupies a special place in your heart… or when you are going through a bad breakup since there are few things chocolate cannot fix.

Enough chatter. Let’s talk about this recipe. I was looking for good chocolate cake recipe when my friend and coworker Cheryl shared with me a chocolate cake recipe she found online. I read the recipe and it looked easy to make. I decided to make it this past Saturday for Gayle’s birthday (my brother’s girlfriend). I wanted to make her feel special by making her a luscious and decadent chocolate cake. I spent all Saturday morning (and part of the afternoon) baking the cake and making the frosting. When I started decorating the cake, the snow that had been falling since early in the morning, turned into sleet. Not a good sign. Minutes later, cake in hand, we left home to meet Gayle and the family at our favorite Mexican restaurant (which was featuring live Mariachi). Half way there, Mother calls me to cancel. The roads where slippery and they didn’t feel comfortable driving all the way to Harrisburg… Nate and I looked at each other and then looked at the cake that was sitting on the backseat. What to do know? Well, we took it home and could not resist having a piece. Yes, I know it’s rude to eat someone else’s birthday cake but it looked so very good and we are not very good at resisting temptation. We’ve been eating a piece of cake daily… but we saved the other half in the freezer for Gayle.

This chocolate cake is very, very good. The cake is a bit dense with a clear chocolate flavor that is not overwhelming. Although it did not call for it, I decided to use raspberry jelly as filling, which added a bit of tanginess to the sweetness of the cake and frosting. Which reminds me to tell you about the frosting: it was combination of butter (of course), hazelnut cream (I used Nutella), and rum (because rum makes me smile). The cake is very decadent and probably not very good for your figure but it is so worth it. I’m not going to lie to you, making a cake and frosting from scratch is time consuming and at times frustrating. So I recommend you make either the cake or frosting a day ahead of time.

Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut and Rum Frosting

Ingredients:

For the Cake
1 1/4 cup of sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup good quality cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Filling:
3/4 cup raspberry jelly

For the Frosting:
1 cup butter (at room temperature)
1 cup Hazelnut butter (I used Nutella)
1 tbs. dark rum

Directions:
For the cake:
1. Heat oven to 350 Degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, mix at medium speed for 2 minutes.
4. Pour into a floured cake pan/
5. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Once the cake is ready, take it out of the oven and let cool for approximately an hour before removing it from pan.

For the frosting:
1. Beat all the ingredients until completely mixed. Chill for 20 minutes (not more) before using.

To finish the cake:
1. Slice the cake horizontally in half.
2. Spread the raspberry jelly over the bottom part of the cake. Add the top part of the cake.
3. Spread the frosting on top of the case and sides.