Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake With Hazelnuts

Ingredients:


½ cup water (125ml)
2 oz unsweetened cocoa powder (55g)
3 squares semi
sweet chocolate
½ cup butter (125ml)
2/3 cup milk (165ml)
1 1/5 cup flour (300ml)
1 tblsp baking powder (15ml)
½ tsp salt (2.5ml)
4 jumbo eggs
8½ oz caster sugar (240g)
2 tsp vanilla (10ml)


Fudge Filling:
5 oz caster sugar (140g)
3/5 cup cream (fresh) (150ml)
7 oz dark chocolate (195g)
½ cup butter (125ml)
18 oz confectioners sugar (500g)
2 tblsp hazelnut liqueur(30ml)


Ganache:
11 oz dark chocolate (chopped). (310g)
½ cup cream (fresh) (125ml)
3 tblsp butter (45ml)


Method:
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)

Grease and line two 9" round pans.

Mix the water and cocoa to a smooth paste.

Heat the chocolate, butter and milk till the butter and chocolate are melted. Do not boil.

Add the cocoa mixture to the milk mixture, and set aside to cool down.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Beat the eggs till light. Gradually add the sugar, while beating continuously, till the sugar is completely dissolved.

Add the vanilla, and mix through.

With a metal spoon, fold in the dry ingredients, alternating with the cocoa mixture, into the egg mixture. Be gentle!

Pour equal amounts of the batter into the tins, and bake 30-40 minutes.

Allow the cakes to cool a while in the tins. Turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.



Fudge Filling:
Combine the sugar and cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Stir over a low heat, to dissolve the sugar completely.

allow the mixture to boil for 6 minutes without stirring. (If stirring is needed to prevent it from boiling over, stir the minimum, rather lower the heat, just to keep it boiling)(265°(125°C) on a sugar thermometer)

Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted.

Add 2/3 of the butter and mix well.

At this point you can assess the icing. You can add some of the confectioner's sugar, or all of it, and the butter. Use a n electric beater to beat the mixture till smooth and light.

Add the liqueur, and mix through.

Work quickly, before the fudge sets, and sandwich the two cake layers with ½ the fudge in the middle, and the other ½ on top.



Ganache:
Heat the cream in a saucepan to almost boiling point. Add the chocolate and butter, and stir till all is melted. Be careful not to over heat.

Cool down, and add the liqueur. Mix well. Leave until thick enough to spread easily.

In the mean time, roast and skin the hazelnuts, and add to the ganache.

Pour the ganache over the cake, allowing it to drip from the sides.

I sometimes use shavings of white chocolate to garnish the cake.
Chocaholic
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chocolate cakes, chocolate muffins, chocolate cupcakes, don;t care, but it has to be chocolate.

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