Chocolate Walnut Cake Recipes

CHOCOLATE WALNUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray (3) 9 inch cake pans with Pam baking spray.
• In a medium kettle, combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 minute.
• Remove from heat and whisk in the dark chocolate and butter until melted. Add in oil and vanilla.
• Cool slightly and whisk in eggs one at a time. Then stir in cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Gradually stir in flour a little at a time until just combined. Do not over mix.
• Fold in walnuts.
• Evenly divide batter between prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes.
• In a large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Stir in powdered sugar a little at a time. Add heavy cream as needed to reach your desired consistency.
• In a large bowl combine butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Stir in cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt.Add powdered sugar a little at a time, adding heavy cream as needed.
• In a small bowl, combine walnuts and chocolate chips.
• In a small kettle , heat up the heavy whipping cream until steaming. Pour over chocolate chips. Allow to stand for 1 minute before whisking until smooth
• Frost the first cake layer with around 1 cup of frosting.
• Place the second cake layer on top, and repeat.
• Top with the final cake layer.
• Spread chocolate frosting over the top and down the sides of the top layer.
• Coat the bottom of the cake with the walnut/chocolate chip mix
• Drip ganache down the sides of the cake by using a squeeze bottle.
• Pipe dollops of chocolate frosting on top using a star tip.
• Sprinkle with remaining walnut and chocolate chips.

CHOCOLATE WALNUT BUNDT CAKE

Steps:

• Combine cake mix, pudding mix, milk, sour cream and eggs in large mixing bowl. Beat on low speed 1 minute.
• Beat on high speed 2 minutes.
• Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
• Pour into greased and floured Bundt pan or tube pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean.
• Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Invert onto rack to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE WALNUT LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease the bottom and sides of the cake pans liberally with nonstick spray.
• Prepare the cake batter: Combine the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high speed until light and lemon-colored, 5-8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the mayonnaise and water together in a medium bowl; set aside. Finely chop 1/2 cup walnuts and combine with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, coffee and salt in a medium bowl. Stir 1/2 of the flour mixture and 1/2 of the mayonnaise mixture into the eggs with the mixer on low until well blended. Do not over mix. The less you mix flour, the more tender the cake! Scrape down the bowl and repeat with the remaining flour and mayonnaise mixtures.
• Bake the cake: Fill each cake pan with 1/3 of the batter. Place the pans in the center of the oven. Rotate the pans halfway through cooking. Bake until the center is firm or when the tip of a small knife emerges clean when it pierces the center of each cake, about 16 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 1/2 hour before unmolding. Cool completely before frosting.
• Candy the oranges: Cut the orange in half lengthwise (from the stem to navel ends). Continue cutting the orange pieces in half lengthwise until you have 16 wedges. Place the orange wedges in a skillet and fill with enough cold water to cover. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Drain the water and repeat this step to make the peels tender and remove bitterness. Gently remove the wedges from the pan and set aside. Place the sugar, 2 cups water, the cloves and the orange peels into the skillet. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and return the orange wedges to the skillet. Continue cooking over low heat until the syrup thickens and the wedges become translucent, about 45 to 60 minutes. Transfer the wedges to a baking sheet to cool.
• Make the frosting: Place the chocolate in a medium bowl and the cream in a small pot to warm over medium heat. When the cream simmers, pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes, then whisk gently until the chocolate blends with the cream. Cool completely. Blend the confectioner's sugar, butter and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor until smooth, 5-8 minutes. Stir the cooled chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture until smooth.
• Frost the cake: Chop 1 cup of walnuts; set aside. Place one cake round, top side down, onto a serving platter. Top with 1/4 of the frosting letting some of it spill over the top to coat the sides. Sprinkle ¼ cup of the walnuts on top of the frosting. Repeat with the next cake layer. Place the final layer on top of the other two, bottom side up, then coat the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of walnuts and the candied orange wedges.
• Note: Prepare the cake using a cake mix with 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts added to the batter before baking in place of the scratch cake, if desired.