best ever chocolate cake

I made these little guys for my friends on Valentine's Day, since my valentine was tattooing people in Italy. (Yep, he's out being a globetrotter while I rot in school, boo hiss!) Anywho, these mini cakes, which I baked in little loaf pans, are impressive. So moist, perfectly sweet, and immaculately flavored. Tonight, 5 days later, I was asked if I'd make them for a friends birthday, they're that good. Pretty cute too, huh?

I colored them a super pale pink, though I was a bum and took these photos on my phone. Shh.

Oh yeah, they're also filled with frangelico milk chocolate mousse :)

What you'll need (it looks like a lot, but just hang in there!) :
• 1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs + 1 yolk
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup + 2 T oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 c Kaluha (or whatever coffee liquor your have)
• 3 ounces french vanilla yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons hazelnut agave

This makes quite a bit of cake, so have lots of liners or cake pans or whatever you are baking in ready. I'd give you more specific yield amounts, but I used a silly shaped pan for a majority of it and filled the rest in the little loaf pans you see above.

This will blow your mind. Preheat your oven to 350F and grease your pans.
1. Add all the liquid ingredients.
2. Then, add all the dry. Tada!
Sinfully simple. Just make sure it's all combined and you'll be set!

While those little guys are baking at 350 F (bake until top is firm, and a cake tester comes out clean)
start on your mousse!

Frangelico Mousse, adapted from here. I'll list the whole recipe, but I definitely halved this.
• 5 large egg yolks (I used three since it's kinda difficult and annoying to "half" 5 eggs)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup Frangelico hazelnut liqueur (non-drinkers substitute 1/3 cup water)
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 66% cacao), finely chopped (I used milk chocolate)
• 1 cup heavy cream, chilled

In a heat safe bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until the mixture is uniform and light in color. Place over a double boiler and whisk until slightly thickened. A ribbon of the egg sugar mixture should flow back into the bowl when the whisk is lifted and the sugar should just be beginning to dissolve. Add the Frangelico (or water) and then continue to whisk over the simmering water until the mixture hits roughly 160°F and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add the finely chopped chocolate. Stir until your arm cramps or the mixture becomes cool to the touch, whichever comes first (roughly 10 minutes).

Set the chocolate aside and beat the heavy cream to soft peaks. Fold the cream into the chocolate, then cover and chill until pipeable.

Fill those suckers!
Using a small knife, cut out a hole in the center of each cake. Don't cut through the bottom or things will get real sticky. Now you have a hole in the middle of your cake waiting to be filled with glorious filling and a delicious little cake plug. Fill your hole with the mousse (don't be stingy!) and then place the cork back in. If you need to trim some of the bottom of the "plug" off so that it fits evenly, go so! Just make sure you eat it :)

Repeat the process until all of your cupcakes, cakes, mini loafs, dinosaurs, whatever pan you baked them in, are filled.

Then, top with your whipped cream icing below!

1-2-3-4 Frangelico whipped cream topping
(I honestly realized after getting home from the store with my cream that I was out of powdered sugar, so I just sweetened the cream with Hazelnut Agave since I had it on hand and since I was already on the hazelnut theme. Feel free to use powdered sugar, and just add a few more tablespoons of the frangelico to bulk up the hazelnut flavor.)

•1 cup heavy whipping cream
•2 tsp good vanilla
•3 Tablespoons Hazelnut Agave nectar
•4 Tablespoons frangelico
(I added a bit of wilton gel pink food coloring to be festive)

1.) Put heavy whipping cream in cold bowl or in the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with whip attachment.
2.) Start your cream on medium high and slowly add the remaining ingredients.
3.) Watch your cream closely, you want whipped cream, not butter!

This recipe is super simple and will be best if you put your own spin on it! The whipped cream topping is just light enough to accent the cake without weighing it down or mellowing it out.