Triple Chocolate Pistachio Praline Cake

Are you ready for this? Can you handle it?

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This is the latest from my kitchen. The Triple Chocolate Pistachio Praline Cake. It's a combination of rich chocolate flavors, notes of mocha, hints of salt, & a delicious, sweet, nutty crunch that join together to do the ultimate happy-dance on your tongue.

A friend at work asked me to make a "birthday cake" for a friend of hers. She & her husband were having the friend & husband over for a birthday dinner so they wanted a dessert. Only, I know this woman well enough to know that a normal "birthday cake" seemed a little out of place. These people are foodies in every sense of the word. They love to experiment with food, they truly appreciate new combinations of flavors & textures, but indulging in any ol' thing that's sweet is not a part of their daily habit. So when I asked to clarify, she really just wanted a delicious, beautiful dessert but it didn't have to be the standard "birthday cake." It just had to be chocolate, as the friends were both super chocoholics. PHEW. I mean, I could do a birthday cake, of course. I just knew this wasn't the time, place, or audience for it. But you know what that means? Time to put the creative baking cap on!! YESSSS.

You remember the layered brownie thing I made back in December? The Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Tart? I drew my inspiration from that. It was easy (well, relatively speaking) but elegant, & the individual components were simple but delicious so I thought about turning it into cake form. The brownie tart was great, but quite honestly, the ganache & whipped cream could've used something a bit more porous & delicate to absorb the layers of goo. Enter the cake.

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For the bottom layer of the cake I adapted the recipe for my favorite chocolate cake, a super moist & flavorful Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake from Nigella Lawson's book How to be a Domestic Goddess. I added my own twist to it (of course). For one, you can see that it's clearly not in loaf form. I used a 9.5" springform pan. Secondly, I added ground pistachios. This cake typically falls in the middle b/c it's so dense--WHICH IS OKAY, it's supposed to. But I did add a little something extra to counteract that. Plus, a few extra twists. ;-)

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Time for the ganache & the praline. Instead of a typical chocolate + cream ganache, I upped the flavor profile by adding a strong coffee flavor plus a blend of different types of chocolate for a richer, more flavorful topping. Mocha ganache!! Oh my goodness, it was so tasty. The ganache was poured on top of the cake, while the praline was crunched, smashed, chopped, and crumbled so it could grace the edges of the cake. Truth be told, it could also be a pistachio brittle, but in the end, it's basically a seriously sugar-coated nut so I'm going with praline. Semantics. Go figure.

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Next up! The chocolate whipped cream. This had a much different chocolate flavor b/c the natural flavor of whipped cream is so strong. The chocolate is much lighter in this component. It works out beautifully though, it's balances out the other intense flavors. It's the perfect compliment.

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And here we go! The complete creation. The Triple Chocolate Pistachio Praline cake. The top is garnished w/ chocolate ganache frosting & more pistachio praline crumbles, mixed w/ chopped pistachios.

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One more reason I'm so excited about this cake: it can translate into cupcakes. Quite easily!! Can you imagine it? Perfect little bouncy cupcakes, dipped in mocha ganache with crumbles of pistachio praline & topped with a dollop of chocolate whipped cream? Yeeeaaaahhhhh, doesn't that sound INCREDIBLE??? (that's a rhetorical question, of course it'd be incredible)

Now this makes me think about my Couture Cupcake collection. A select few flavors that up the ante on your average vanilla cupcake + some color of sugary frosting. How do you feel about that?? I'm excited, are you?