Opels Chocolate Stack Cake Food

OPEL'S CHOCOLATE STACK CAKE

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine both flours, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.
• 2. CAKE: Beat eggs in a large mixer bowl and add sugar, stirring to mix. In a seperate bowl, combine buttermilk and oil, mixing well. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately to egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Pour 2/3 cup batter into greased and floured round cake pans (I use 8" pans). Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until layers begin to brown around edges. Allow to cool in pans 5 minutes, remove cake from pans and stack layers, placing a paper towel between each layer. Repeat with remaining batter until 10 layers are baked. PLEASE NOTE: Prepare icing after layers are baked.
• 3. ICING: Combine sugar & cocoa in a large heavy saucepan. Add milk & combine well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar melts. Add butter, stirring until melted. Allow to come to a boil then continue boiling for 7 minutes. Remove from heat then add in vanilla. Icing will be thin at this point but will harden later. Ice cooled layers while icing is warm.
• 4. ASSEMBLE: Start stacking layers and be generous with icing between layers because there is plenty. Once last layer is on top, ice generously. Icing will run down the cake, which actually will ice the sides. Keep spooning icing back on top as it puddles.
• 5. Note: the icing will start to get gooey as it cools but then will harden later. This cake is better made the day before serving. This allows the icing to harden properly. If you can't make it a day ahead, make it in the morning to serve that evening.

OLD-FASHIONED STACK CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with molasses and buttermilk, beating well after each addition., Drop 2 scant 1/4 cupfuls of batter, at least 7 in. apart, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. With well-floured fingers, pat each into a 5- to 6-in. circle. Bake 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter., To assemble, place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 2 tablespoons apple butter. Repeat layers 4 times; top with a sixth layer. Repeat to make 2 more stack cakes. Refrigerate, covered, until serving. If desired, serve with additional apple butter.

SEMI OLD FASHIONED CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• 1. CAKE: Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix & sugar. Add buttermilk and mix well. Add oil and mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat for 2 minutes with electric mixer.
• 2. Pour into 3 greased and floured round cake pans. Bake on 350 for approximately 18-20 minutes or until done. Cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out onto a cloth and cool completely. Once completely cooled, cut each layer into half by using a bread knife or dental floss. Ice cake while icing is still warm. *If you prefer you can spoon 4 to 5 tablespoons of batter into cake pans and bake approximately 8 minutes or until they start to brown around edges. Keep repeating until batter is used up. If I want those very thin layers I just make my Opel's Chocolate Stack Cake, which is posted.
• 3. ICING: Do not make icing until layers are cooled. In a medium-size heavy saucepan, combine sugar & cocoa. Add milk, stir and then add butter. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then boil for an additional seven minutes. Turn off heat and add vanilla. Stir for one minute...icing will be thin but will harden later. Generously ice between cooled layers and top of cake. Icing will drip down sides, which will ice the sides. Keep spooning icing on top of cake as it puddles in bottom of cake plate. The icing will be thin then it'll get to the gooey stage while spooning on top but will harden later. Leave cake alone until icing hardens.
• 4. Note: I use a skewer or an ice pick to punch a few holes in cake as I'm icing it so that some of the icing can seep down into the layers.

CHOCOLATE STACKS

Steps:

• In a cold metal bowl, beat the whipping cream to the soft peak stage and add the sugar and vanilla extract slowly. As the whipping cream comes up to the hard peak stage, add the whiskey slowly. (Sample to insure taste.)
• In a food processor, grind 3/4 of the slivered almonds into a fine powder. Place in a bowl and set aside. (Reserve 1/4 as decoration during final assembly.)
• Assembly: Begin by placing one wafer on your tray. Paint the top of it with a thin layer of Hershey's sauce. Next add a teaspoon of the ground almonds and spread it evenly. Then add a teaspoon of the whipping cream mixture.
• Repeat this until you have 6 layers and top it with a dollop of whipping cream. Add a cherry to the top of each stack and a few whole slivered almonds. Then garnish lightly with the Decor Nonpariels. Cover the completed pan of stacks with a sheet of Glad wrap and put them into the refrigerator overnight.
• Note: The whipping cream will soften the wafers. You will need to serve and eat these stacks within the next two or three days. After that the cream starts to harden and they don't taste a good. ENJOY!
• This recipe will yield two trays of 24 stacks. Two per person will serve 12. You will need two aluminum roasting pans to hold the completed dessert.