Yes this is quite a long title f or a blog. However it does describe the reason I endeavored to make this cake.
My brother on my bio father’s side and his family invited me to his daughter’s house for lunch the Friday after Christmas. As mentioned previously I had met him, his wife Pat and 1 niece Melissa at Thanksgiving time.
I of course was excited to now meet my other niece Sarah and her husband and two children.
I had a great time. Got there at noon and didn’t leave until 8 pm. We talked, ate food, and had adult beverages and got to know each other. Time flew by.
Below is the recipe for the cake I made. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of brewed coffee. I know that a touch of brewed coffee—or, a spoonful of espresso powder—can enhance the chocolate flavor but I don’t like coffee and it does not agree with me. And yes some people are allergic to coffee.
So I googled what to replace coffee with and one of the suggestions was Bailey’s Irish Cream. So YUM!
You can replace it with any liquid to equal that half cup. Next time I am thinking 1/4 cup Bailey’s and 1/4 cup Jameson Whiskey and will call it an Irish Mule Cake.
Cake vs Torte
OK, you see me use the word cake and torte. Is there a difference. Yes sort of. A cake is a torte but kind of different.
This is how the Oxford English Dictionary defines it. It specifies that a torte is a round cake (or bread!)—and also suggests that it has always differed slightly, in some way, from cakes, or that it’s a subsection within the umbrella of “cake”: A 16th-century example cites “tortes or cakes.”
Torte is a German word for cake. It can be multi or single, dense layer. This issue is not black or white or chocolate or vanilla.
Most torte are multi layered with less flour than a cake. When I made this one I made it single layered. I used 1 8 inch spring form pan instead of 2 6 inch pans.
I also decided to make a chocolate ganache with salted caramel ganache drizzle to “frost” it which was not in the original recipe. With most recipes you can customize them for your own taste and design aesthetic.
This cake/torte when it is cooked is dense and not light and fluffy like a lot of sponge cakes.
Bailey’s Irish Cream Chocolate Torte
Chocolate Ganache Glaze, Salted Caramel Ganache Drizzle
White Chocolate Decorations
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup baking cocoa
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream (replacing the coffee)
Ganache Glaze
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate (I use Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate)
- For the salted caramel ganache I use Hershey’s Sea Salt Caramel. I add more pieces for this ganache than for the chocolate one.
Cake/Torte Directions
- Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
- Gradually add flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt to the creamed mixture, alternating with the sour cream.
- Pour into floured/greased, round baking pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 – 30 min or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool cake at least 10 min before removing from the pan to wire rack
- Cool completely before glazing
Ganache Directions
- Heat chocolate in a double boiler ( I use a pyrex 4 cup measuring cup. This way after I add the heavy cream it is easy to pour over the torte).
- Add heavy cream
- Mix until chocolate is melted and smooth
- Pour on torte and use a smoothing spatula to smooth the top and sides
- For salted caramel drizzle I put it into a plastic sandwich bag, cut off the top and use it like piping bag.
White Chocolate Decorations
I melt the white chocolate in the sandwich bag in the microwave. Once melted I drizzle a design on parchment paper (you can also use acetate which will make it shinier). Put it in the refrigerator to harden. Then peel it of the paper and put it on the cake.
