Midnight Sin Chocolate Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place a rack in the lower third of the oven and set a baking stone on it. (If you don’t have a stone, the cake will survive don’t worry. Just be prepared to trim any uneven tops and make sure the cake gets an adequate amount of time in the oven to fully cook.)
2. You’ll need two 9″ or two 8″cake pans for this cake. Spray the pans with non-stick spray oil and then sprinkle with flour. Swirl the pans around a bit to coat the bottom and sides with flour. (Or I suppose you could use parchment paper … I am a green fanatic so I don’t like using anything “disposable” where I can avoid it.)
3. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Stir until combined and then slowly add the stout beer (or water) while whisking. The mixture will bubble up a bit while the baking soda reacts with the cocoa. Once it’s all mixed well, heat the sauce pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Then remove from the heat and let it stand for at least 10 minutes.
4. While you’re waiting on the chocolate mixture, go get yourself another beer (because you just poured most of it into the cake!), then pour the oil and vanilla and yogurt into a large bowl and get your mixer ready.
5. After 10 minutes has passed, stir the espresso powder into the chocolate mixture, then add the chocolate mixture to the bowl and mix on low speed for about 20 seconds. With a minimum amount of beating, add the eggs, vanilla and buttermilk, then mix in the flours. The batter will be fairly thin.
6. Divide the batter fairly evenly between the two pans and place in the oven.  Bake for 25-30 minutes (for 9″ rounds. Add 5-7 more minutes for 8″ rounds) until the center of the cake springs back when you touch it.  (I waited till the toothpick came out clean … which took about 10 – 15 minutes longer than she mentioned …)
7. Allow to cool completely then wrap the cakes tightly and place them in the refrigerator to chill before assembling.

I still wanted to do the ganache on the top and the chocolate mousse filling like she did, but I wanted a healthier version of both, so after much trial and tribulation, I came up with my own versions of both. (You have no idea how hard it was to make the mousse! … the first recipe I tried called for gelatine, which made these disgusting blobs of slimy goo in the mousse, so I threw it down the drain … the 2nd one I made was better, but way too sweet and didn’t have enough depth of flavor … so I ended up making my own personal mocha Nutella version, which I think is just about right to go with this cake. Honestly, though, you could skip all the trouble of making ganache and mousse and just sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar … it’s pretty dang good all by itself.)

To assemble (if you choose to assemble):

I just want to say … these steps are totally optional. You may totally skip the pain if you are a baking klutz (like me).

1. Place one of the cakes on a plate or cake stand.
2. “Frost” the bottom half with the chocolate mousse.
3. Place the 2nd half on top of the mousse’d up cake. Watch it slip and slide around a bit and ooze down the sides. (Sigh … why couldn’t it be as beautiful as HERS?)
4. Frost the top half with the ganache. If your ganache has cooled too much while waiting sooo long for the stupid mousse to get done, warm it for 30 seconds in the microwave, stir again till it’s nice and smooth, then spread it on the top of the cake.
5. Now what I did was take my whipped light cream and docorated with that and a strawberry. The problem with the whipped light cream is that it fades REALLY fast, so do this RIGHT at serving time. A better way to eat this cake is to skip the whipped cream, and just top it with fresh berries and then drizzle with red wine or berry liqueur. Oh man THAT is gooood!

Dark Chocolate Mocha Ganache

• 4 squares (43 g) of 60% dark chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)
• 2 Tablespoons Kahlua
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons good quality dark cocoa powder
• 1 Tablespoon fat free half and half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the chocolate in a microwaveable bowl along with the Kahlua and cocoa. Microwave on high for 1 minute, then take it out and stir. Is the chocolate melted? If not, put it back in the microwave on high for 30 seconds and stir again. If the chocolate is melted, stir in the half and half and the vanilla.

Lowfat Mocha Nutella Mousse

I don’t know that this was meant for a cake filling … or maybe I just didn’t let it chill long enough … if you prefer, you can skip this step and just make a double batch of ganache … or I also thought that the Yoplait chocolate whipped yogurt might work well here … just a thought …

• 1 egg white
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 Tablespoons Kahlua
• 2 teaspoons good quality dark cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup Nutella
• 1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 Tablespoon of the ganache you just made
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon French Vanilla cappucino powder

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Click here to see all the other great chocolate cakes in this month’s cooking challenge

This recipe was also shared at Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Trick or Treat Tuesdays, Talent Show Tuesdays, Midweek Fiesta, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Fabulous Valentine’s Ideas, a Valentine’s Day Blog Hop, Recipe of the Week, Mop it Up Mondays and Gooseberry Patch Pies & Cakes.