Alex’s Chocolate Layer Cake

Essential Gear: Electric food processor, two 8-inch cake pans, baking parchment

For two cake layers:
  8 ounces best quality semisweet chocolate
  ¼ pound unsalted butter & 1 tsp. salt OR ¼ lb. sweet cream butter (1 stick)
  1½ cups sugar
  6 eggs
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  1¼ cups flour
  ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  1 cup finely ground walnuts, the texture of coarse flour
  2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
    
Preheat oven to 350* F.
Cut round pieces of parchment paper to fit the bottom of two 8-inch cake pans. 
Melt the chocolate and butter together over hot water. Set aside. Cool to room 
temp. Process sugar, eggs, and vanilla until mixture is pale yellow (nearly ten 
minutes). In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix in 
ground walnuts. Alternately add buttermilk and cooled chocolate to the dry 
mixture. Carefully fold in egg mixture just until mixed. Divide batter between 
the two prepared pans.

Bake for 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. 

Cool for 15 minutes on a rack, then remove cakes from pan to finish cooling. 

Prepare filling and glaze/garnish (see recipes below). Place one cake layer on a 
serving platter. Top with one-half of the whipped-cream mixture. Spread evenly 
across cake and set second layer on top. Pout glaze over top of the cake and 
spread to the edge of the top layer. Spread the rest of the whipped cream around 
the sides of the cake, meeting the glaze where it leaves off. Pat the walnuts 
into the whipped cream, making a 1" ring of walnuts around the top edge of the 
cake.

Glaze and Garnish:
  1 2/3 ounces semisweet chocolate
  1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
  ¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

  When cake layers are cool and ready to assemble, melt the 1-2/3 ounces 
  chocolate over hot water. Add butter. Stir until melted mixture is a smooth 
  glaze.

Whipped-cream filling:
  4 ounces semisweet chocolate
  1 cup whipping cream
  1 teaspoon vanilla

  Melt the 4 chocolate over hot water. Cool to room temp. Whip cream until 
  almost firm. Add vanilla and continue whipping until very firm. Fold into 
  chocolate. (Theoretically, the chocolate should still be very runny when 
  whipped cream is added. However, some of us like it when it has begun to 
  solidify so that there are little shards of chocolate in the whipped cream.)

The cake holds well for at least three days. It’s a party planner’s dream.
Serves: at least 16