Mighty Nice Chocolate Pastry Cake.

It has been almost 18 years ago since Mamie first made a cake for me that instantly became one of my favorites. It is one that is a bit time consuming, but wow! The end results are well worth it. The recipe comes from a cookbook themed from the movie "Forrest Gump". Over the years she has made it a few times and it has always been at the top of my list. Now I have to admit that I do have a weakness for chocolate, and usually it is for almost any kind. M & M's (with peanuts of course), Snickers, Fudge, Chocolate Ice cream, Chocolate Mousse, Heath bars.......Oh, I could go on and on.  One chocolate lesson I learned as a kid was that the large candy bar in the kitchen baking drawer was never meant to be eaten as a candy. Not that I ever tried a piece....(IT WASN'T ME!...) but I'm sure some kid may have tried it once.

Well, on to the cake. I have begged Mamie many times to make this for me, and today I was able to pull it off. As you can see, we have not posted for a while. This is because we have been so busy with baby showers and lots of visiting with company. So today after our company left, we decided to spend some time in the kitchen. Here is the cake and the recipe. Let us know if you try it. I know you'll love it (how could you not- it's chocolate!!!)

So here it is...

First we made the chocolate sauce

While that was cooling we started the cake sections.

Next the filling...

Finally putting the cake together 

The final out-come. Rustic but Wonderful Chocolate Taste.  This is like other stack cakes, in that you refrigerate for several hours, (overnight is best) and the moist filling seeps into the crispy cake layers and makes them soft and delicious!

Of course we had our audience who thought that if they sat still and minded their manners, they might get a piece. Cute, but no chocolate for dogs (even though they think they are human)!

RECIPE:

Mighty Nice Chocolate Pastry Cake

2        (4 ounce) packages sweet baking chocolate

1/2     cup sugar

1/2     cup water

1 1/2  teaspoons instant coffee granules

2        teaspoons vanilla extract

1        (11 ounce) package pie-crust mix

2        cups whipping cream

Garnish: chocolate curls

Combine first 4 ingredients in a heavy saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Cool mixture to room temperature.

Combine pie-crust mix and 3/4 cup chocolate mixture in a small bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Divide pastry into 6 equal portions. Press each portion onto bottom of an inverted ungreased 8-inch cake-pan to within 1/2 inch of sides (we found that it is helpful to dip your fingers into cocoa powder to press it out).  Bake layers, two at a time, at 425 for 5 minutes. Trim uneven edges of circles (we did not trim ours), if necessary; run a knife under pastry to loosen it from cake-pans. Invert layers onto wax paper to cool.

Beat whipping cream until thickened but just before soft peaks form; fold in remaining chocolate mixture. Stack pastry cream layers on a serving plate, spreading about 2/3 cup whipped cream mixture between each layer. Spoon remaining whipped cream mixture on top of cake; garnish, if desired.

Cover and chill at least 8 hours before serving. Store in refrigerator. Yield; one 8-inch stack cake.

I wonder what happened to the small piece that is missing? Not that I would try a piece....(IT WASN'T ME!...)

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