Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch

I baked this cake for my friend's Halloween party last weekend....but it is perfect throughout the Fall season. It's full of aromatic spices, but perfectly balanced with the rich cocoa flavor and the crunchy hazelnut layer on the bottom. 

You can opt to eliminate the hazelnut crunch, and even replace the apricot layer with a pumpkin buttercream frosting. But, I think the sweetness of the apricot jam worked great with the pumpkin cake. I originally was going to do a pumpkin jam, but I did not have enough time to make my own jam. Plus, as I had never made jam before, I did not want to have to worry about botulism :-/ 

By the way, what do you think about the costumes that my boyfriend and I wore for Halloween? He dressed up as the infamous painter Bob Ross, and I was his "happy tree" :) I saw the idea as I was googling Halloween costumes and thought that it was adorable. For my head piece, I attached faux leaves to a head band that my mom sewed for me out of old pantyhose stuffed with pillow filling. I also used real leaves to cover the headband itself. By the way, I'm sure my boyfriend would like you think that that's his real hair but, fortunately for myself, it's only a wig :) This was the first Halloween that my boyfriend and I got to spend together as he was away at school the past two Halloweens...so it was fun coming up with a couples' costume. 

Hope you guys enjoy! More Fall savory and sweet dishes coming soon.....

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch

Cake:

1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted (see below at instruction #2)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt + 1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 cup milk

3 eggs, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract + 1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp. cinnamon powder + 1 tsp. cinnamon powder 

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cloves

Hazelnut crunch spread:

1 cup rice Krispie cereal

1/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted, finely chopped

12 oz. milk chocolate chips

1 Tbsp. butter

Apricot Layer:

1 cup apricot jam

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking sheet and set aside.

2. For the cake flour, I used all-purpose flour and cornstarch to get homemade cake flour. I sifted the one and a half cups of all-purpose flour in a bowl. I then replaced two tablespoons of the all-purpose flour with two tablespoons of cornstarch. I then shifted that mixture a couple times to make sure that the cornstarch and all-purpose flour were well incorporated.

3. Whisk together your homemade cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, the 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.

4. If using canned pumpkin puree (as I did), in a small saucepan, heat the 3/4 cup pumpkin puree with the remaining 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Heating the pumpkin puree will help to remove any metal flavor resulting from the can. Just stir mixture for 5 minutes until smooth.

5. In a large bowl, mix the eggs one at a time. Mix the eggs for at least 3-4 minutes. Then, add the sugar and continue to mix them for another 3-4 minutes. 

6. Add the oil, milk, and vanilla extract and continue to mix for another few minutes. 

7. Turn the mixer off and stir in dry ingredients slowly. Do not overmix. 

8. Pour batter in cake pan and smooth the top layer. Bake for 40 minutes. Check the center of the center with a skewer to make sure that the skewer is clean and the cake is fully cooked.

9. Let cake cool on cooling rack for at least 1 hour. After 30 minutes or so, remove the cake from the cake pan and let it continue to cool on cooling rack. 

10. Boil some water in a saucepan and place a bowl on top of the saucepan. Add chocolate chips to the bowl in order to melt them (double boiler). Reduce the heat. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water in the saucepan because it can burn the chocolate. 

11. Stir the chocolate. Add the butter and continue stirring until smooth and silky. Please be patient while stirring the chocolate. It may take 5-10 minutes. You may wish to turn the stove off completely. If you notice the chocolate is hardening, turn the heat back up. I kept the heat on low through the entire process. 

12. Add the chopped hazelnuts and rice Krispie cereal to the chocolate and mix. 

13. In the same 9x13 inch pan, line the pan with wax paper. Make sure to cut two large portions of wax paper: one piece that lines parallel with the pan, and a second piece that lines perpendicular with the pan. You also want the wax paper to be large enough where you can grab it (important for later removing the hazelnut crunch layer and chocolate). When preparing my pan, I only lined it with one wax paper going parallel with the pan and had some trouble preventing the hazelnut crunch layer from separating from the cake. 

14. Add the hazelnut crunch layer on the wax paper and smooth it out evenly. I just used a spatula to smooth this out. Carefully place the cake on top of the hazelnut crunch layer and press the cake in firmly to make sure that the cake adheres to the hazelnut crunch layer. Let cool in refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.

15. Once the hazelnut crunch layer has hardened, remove it from the pan and cut into even pieces, about 2x2 inch squares. Be careful to cut completely through the hazelnut crunch layer. 

16. Spread a thin layer of apricot jam on top of each cake. Sprinkle with chopped candy corn or chopped hazelnuts. 

Coconut Yogurt Cake

Two months ago, my aunt, Sona Osbigyan, passed away from complications she experienced after suffering a stroke. It was a pretty tragic and emotional time for my family because she had an incredible part in each of our lives. 

My aunt Sona had one of the kindest hearts ever. She loved everyone and befriended people so easily. I think it was partly the fact that she loved to talk and make people laugh, and partly because she always gave everyone presents. We still have a box of almond and date chocolate bars that she ordered for us prior to her passing. 

She and my uncle Koko visited our home almost every Saturday. It brought the entire family together for Saturday dinners and created such wonderful memories for me growing up. Saturdays have lost a bit of excitement and joy, now...

Aunt Sona had a sweet tooth and she loved loved loved coconut cakes (boxed cakes). Often, when she visited our home, she would ask me whether I had baked a coconut cake for her. She looked forward to them so much. So, in honor of her, I decided to create my own non-boxed coconut cake. 

Most of the reason for not posting on my blog the past two months is that I tried baking this cake at least 5 separate times. It always came out too dense...sometimes, it was just inedible. I guess it's true what they say about baking....trial and error is so important and you just cannot give up. I could tell, though, that my family and friends were getting so sick and tired of having to eat slice after slice of dense coconut cakes. I continued to play around with it and finally got the texture I was looking for! It's a pretty light cake, but packed full of coconut flavor. 

Morkoor Sona, this one is for you...

Coconut Yogurt Cake

1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted (see below at instruction #2)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup whole fat milk (any type of milk should do)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup shredded coconut flakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and set aside.

2. For the cake flour, I used all-purpose flour and cornstarch to get homemade cake flour. I sifted the one and a half cups of all-purpose flour in a bowl. I then replaced two tablespoons of the all-purpose flour with two tablespoons of cornstarch. I then shifted that mixture a couple times to make sure that the cornstarch and all-purpose flour were well incorporated.

3. Whisk together your homemade cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, use a mixer to beat the eggs one at a time. Mix the eggs for at least 3-4 minutes. Then, add the sugar and continue to mix the for another 4-5 minutes. This step is important because you want to make sure that you get air in your mixture.

5. Add the coconut oil and continue to mix for a few more minutes until well incorporated. It may look a little thick, but don't worry :) 

6. Slowly add the Greek yogurt and continue to mix until well incorporated. Add the milk and vanilla extract, as well, and mix.

7. Add your dry ingredients mixture slowly. Do not use a mixture for this stage. Just use a wooden spoon to incorporate the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. I used a number 8 motion sign when incorporating the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients because I felt this type of movement helps to fully incorporate the dry ingredients (at previous times, I noticed that the dry ingredients were not well incorporated and it caused a lot of lumps in my cake).

8. Finally, add the coconut flakes. Go on, taste that batter....you know you want to :)

9. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake in oven for about 45-55 minutes, depending on the type of pan you use. I used a dark aluminum pan, which cooks the cake much faster than a lighter colored pan would. Insert a skewer in the center of the cake to make sure it is baked fully.

10. Put cake on cooling rack and let cool for 20 minutes.