MOCHA TORTE 1936

Steps:

• 1. CAKE: Separate and beat the yolks (reserve the whites), adding the sugar a little at a time.
• 2. Add the flour, stir to incorporate, then add the nuts and stir. NOTE: If you cannot find ground nuts you can grind them yourself in a food processor. To keep from making nut butter, use 1/4 C of the sugar to help grind the nuts.
• 3. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and then fold into above mixture and pour into two well greased 8" round cake pans. (May need to line pans with parchment paper.)
• 4. Bake 300, for 45 minutes After baked, let cool 20 minutes, and then remove from pans and let cool completely. I am not really sure how many layers this will make. I've provided for two layers but a whole pint of whipping cream between 2 layers seems excessive, so, perhaps it makes 3 or 4 layers (each layer cut in half ?) which would make better sense (to me, at least).
• 5. THE FILLING: Whip the cream, gradually add the cocoa, powdered sugar and coffee essence, while continuing to beat.
• 6. Assemble: Place bottom layer on decorative plate, spread 1/3 of the filling to within 1 inch of outside edge, position another layer on top and repeat, ending up with last cake layer on top.
• 7. FROSTING: cream the butter, 1 C of sugar, and the cocoa essence... if you need to adjust the consistency either add more sugar or a little more butter. More butter will make it lighter and fluffier, more sugar will make it stiffer and heavier. (Do not melt the butter, it should be slightly cool, just out of the fridge for about 10-20 minutes -- room temperature is too soft.)
• 8. OPTIONAL: To keep the frosting from being too salty, use unsalted butter and then add 1/4 tsp of salt. FROST THE CAKE and garnish as you please (with chocolate coffee beans, or shaved chocolate, or whatever you wish)
• 9. I've tried to fill out the directions for you... if I've forgotten something please comment and let me know. Thanks!! You can do a search for "coffee essence" and "cocoa essence" to see what those ingredients are and where to find them. I discovered that they sell coffee essence at Amazon.com. Who knew?