Chocolate Ecstacy Cake

-CHOCOLATE BUTTER CREAM-
10 oz Sugar; (about 1 1/3 cups)
6 oz Egg whites; (about 3/4 cup)
3/4 lb (3 cubes) butter; softened
1 ts Vanilla
7 oz Semisweet chocolate; melted

-WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING-
1 1/2 c Heavy whipping cream
2 tb Sugar
1 ts Vanilla

For the cake: Beat eggs with sugar at high speed 5 minutes. Sift together
cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder and cocoa; fold into egg
batter. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10 inch pan. Bake at 350
degrees about 1 hour or until cake begins to separate from sides of pan.
Remove cake from the pan while still warm. Wrap in plastic wrapping and
place in the freezer.

For the Butter Cream: Place sugar and egg whites in the top of a double
boiler and heat until sugar dissolves. Beat at high speed until meringue
forms peaks. Gradually add softened butter and continue whipping. Then add
vanilla and melted chocolate until well blended.

For the Whipped Cream Frosting: Combine cream, sugar, and vanilla; whip at
high speed until stiff peaks form.

To assemble cake: Slice frozen cake horizontally into thirds. Spread one
third of the butter cream on the top of the first layer. Place the second
layer above that and spread one third of the butter cream on top, reserving
the remaining one third butter cream for decoration. Place the third layer
of the cake in place. Cover entire cake, including sides, with the whipped
cream frosting. Decorate top center of cake with shaved bits of semisweet
chocolate. Using a pastry bag with a medium star tip, make rosettes around
the circumference of the cake using the remainder of the butter cream.
Finally, place chocolate square around the side of the cake. To make
chocolate squares, spread a thin layer of melted semisweet chocolate onto
waxed paper then place in refrigerator to harden. Cut chocolate into 1 1/2
inch square. Editor’s note: To dress this cake up, try making a chocolate
ruffle for the perimeter of the cake top. At The World Square we simply
melt Callebaut semisweet chocolate, add a little shortening, coat a baking
sheet, refrigerate it for a short while, then grab a putty knife (some of
our favorite kitchen tools are ones discovered at local hardware shops!)
and work the blade so the chocolate forms almost a fan shape as it is
scaped from the baking sheet surface. It takes a little practice but the
effect is well worth the effort. Another idea: Instead of square shaped
chocolate cut-outs, use a heart shaped cookie cutter to give your cake a
classic Valentine look.

Notes: Rich and chocolately you can prepare this cake in a conventional
round shaped pan or a pretty heart shaped one for that special occasion! If
you have don’t have a heart shaped pan handy, don’t fret. Simply substitute
one square and one round pan and prepare two cakes. Slice the round layer
in half and arrange the halves on one side of the square cake to form a
heart. Ice as usual !