Heavenly Cake

Just got back from the BBQ where my cake was a gigantic hit! I promised to post the recipe here.

It's not mine, really. It's Giada's Hazelnut Crunch Cake with Mascarpone and Chocolate.

ETA: Brand new pics!



Very simple and straight forward. Just have to watch the caramel, and that's all.

1. I used Duncan Hines' Devil's Food Cake for the chocolate cake. The box said to beat the batter 2 minutes. I used my hand mixer on high and I went longer than that. Somehow, the cake not only came out moist, but also light. The lightness is what folks at the BBQ really liked. I also used Pam for Baking (Pam + flour) to grease the cake pans. They plopped out with no problem whatsoever.

2. Watch the hot caramel! When I finished pouring the caramel onto the hazelnuts, I noticed there was a drop of the sugar on the counter top. Like an idiot child of Dumbassville, I swiped it up with my finger. I did this once before about a year or two ago when I attempted to make caramel cake. At least this time, I didn't burn the caramel.



3. I would've made more chocolate-orange topping. It was just enough to sprinkle on top, but I think I'd like some more of that. Maybe I should just double that and you can sprinkle some on the side of the cake too.