Mocha Pecan Cake

SilverSage

SilverSage

Resident Crone
It’s been a while since I posted one of my cakes here. This was for a friend's birthday last weekend. The cake is a pecan torte, 3 layers. Each layer is first spread with chocolate mocha ganache, then with a mocha Swiss buttercream, the whole thing is frosted in the buttercream, then I poured over the remaining ganache. Chopped pecans on the sides, then decorated with more buttercream and chocolate covered coffee beans.


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QSis

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
That is the most beautiful cake I've ever seen! Mocha is my favorite dessert flavor!

Spectacular job, Kathy! :clap:

Lee

P.S. What are the round white things in the background?
 
Sass Muffin

Sass Muffin

Coffee Queen ☕
Gold Site Supporter
QSis said:
That is the most beautiful cake I've ever seen! Mocha is my favorite dessert flavor!

Spectacular job, Kathy! :clap:

Lee

P.S. What are the round white things in the background?
Click to expand...
I can't speak for Sage, but it looks like a sugar bowl/salt and pepper set to me.
?
 
SilverSage

SilverSage

Resident Crone
Peeps, do you happen to have Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol 2? It's the recipe for St Andre Walnut Cake, but I swapped out pecans for the walnuts, and dark rum for the kirsch. A double batch made 3 -8 inch layers. If you don't have access to the book. I'll see if I can post a pic, because it's very long to type up.

The ganache is just a standard ganache, chocolate, butter and coffee. The Swiss buttercream is online - Bravetarts chocolate Swiss buttercream recipe on Serious Eats. I like it much better than the French buttercream I used to make all the time. French uses egg yolks, while the Swiss uses egg white meringue, making it a bit lighter (as if a pound of butter can be lighter). It is also less sweet, and more stable in the hot weather. It was 83 F here on Sunday.

Lee, Sass is correct. Those were on the table at my friend's house, salt, pepper, sugar.
 
SilverSage

SilverSage

Resident Crone
You can tell it's a well loved recipe in a well worn cookbook!

I swap out various nuts (this time pecans, often hazelnuts) and various Liquors (brandy, rum, even coffee for a non-booze version). I also find it simpler to use a food processor instead of a blender - (when this cookbook was written in 1970, folks were more likely to have blenders at home, not FPs).
One batch makes a 10-inch layer, so for a 3 layer cake (the layers are thin), I make a triple batch. For an 8-inch cake, I use a double batch to make 3 layers. Since I make this in different sizes, I have to watch the cake for signs of doneness - you cant use 30 minutes as a baseline!

Here's a link to the buttercream. https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2018/02/chocolate-swiss-buttercream.html
I used less chocolate and more coffee, since I was going for a light mocha.
 
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