As long as I can remember my mom has been making this cake at Christmas time.  It has been a favorite of many who have indulged and it requires several steps.  The most traditional version uses an ‘almond cake’ pan, found here and I had my own set of this exact pan.  However,  because it was so many years since I’ve made this dessert my pan rusted and became unusable.  Even though I’ve ordered a new set to use and pass down to my kids I won’t have them in time to do my Christmas baking, so I’m following my mom’s instructions and using a simple loaf pan.  It may look a little different but the taste will be the same.  Sometimes you need to improvise…  😉

The basic cake recipe is simple and adjustments are made to each of the variations.

• 250 grams powdered sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 Cup water
• 1/2 Cup oil
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 250 grams flour

Mix all ingredients in a mixer and  divide evenly between two buttered and floured loaf pans or almond cake pans if you have.  Bake these at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean.  I would say about a half hour but I must admit that I didn’t time them, as soon as I could smell them I checked and they came out perfect.

*To make the chocolate ones use a little less flour, about 220 grams and add 30 grams of cocoa powder.

*To make the coffee ones add 3 Tablespoons of instant coffee.

*To make nut ones add 100 grams of ground nuts (any kind you like).

Make two or three different flavoured cakes and wrap until ready to assemble.

Cream Filling

The cream filling for these is the same as it the one I made earlier for the Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Filling.  Only for this one I wouldn’t add any PB2, instead use it plain or with a little chocolate or coffee flavour if you like.  For this cake I flavoured the cream with a little bit of cocoa powder and a little bit of instant coffee…. Mmmmm chocolate coffee… quite tasty!

Assembly:

To put these together you will need the cream filling and a glass of rum.  Slice one of each of the differently flavoured loaves into about 1 inch slices (this is where the almond pans come in handy as they have indentations to guide you).  Next alternate the different flavours and place them together with the cream…. but before you get on that… make sure to brush each chocolate slice with some rum!  You can leave this step out… but trust me… it makes a huge difference.  As it turns out my mother tells me that she brushes EACH piece with rum…. up to you I suppose…. I just did the chocolate ones.

Once you have the loaf back together with the cream then you cover it in melted chocolate and coat with either crushed nuts or almond flakes or you can use coconut, whatever your heart desires.  I covered mine with the extra cream I had leftover and then drizzled with melted chocolate.

MOST IMPORTANTLY— when slicing the cake make sure you slice on a drastic angle, the same as you would when slicing a french baguette.  This angled slicing is what will give each slice a sliver of each flavoured cake…. and you get to try out the ends before serving them to guests…. 😉  It has been my experience that you should always do the slicing, people tend to think you’ve made a mistake and slowly they will slice pieces into straight chunks…. which will then mess up the whole look.

Happy Holidays!