Chocolate Fudge Pecan Torte

Ingredients

Fudge Torte:
- 11 TBS butter, cut up
- 4 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate,coarsely chopped
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup coffee liqueur
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
Chocolate Ganache:
- 12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1 TBS light corn syrup
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup pecans for garnish
- 3-4 pecans, whole for garnish

Instructions

0. In an 8 inch Dutch oven heat buter and unsweetened chocolate until melted,stirring often. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

1. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt

3. In a large bowl, mix the eggs and sugar until it is a pale yellow

3. Mix in the chocolate mixture,then the liqueur

4. Gradually add the flour mixture until just incorporated

5. Fold in the 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

6. Pour the batter into a greased 10 inch Dutch oven

7. Bake with 8 coals on the bottom and 14 on top for 40 minutes or until the top is dry and a toothpick inserted comes out slightly wet

8. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and let cool completely

Chocolate Ganache:

9. In a large bowl, combine the chocolate chips and the corn syrup

10. In a 6 inch Dutch oven heat the cream to boiling and pour over the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth

11. Pour over the torte and using a spatula, spread it out to cover the top and sides of the torte

12. Let stand 10 minutes or until set

13. Sprinkle with chopped pecans in a ring around the top and arran ge the whole pecans in the center

Notes

Recipe unattributed in magazine, says based on a recipe by Paula Dean

This makes a very dense, very rich cake - much like Sachertorte. Slice into very thin slices (about 20) and serve with whipped cream, Cool Whip or vanilla ice cream (the cream is needed to tone down the rich chocolate flavor). Similarly, some stewed raspberries might make a good topping for this as a sharp contrast to the overwhelming sweet chocolate flavor.

You don't really need 3 Dutch ovens to make this; the initial melting of chocolate and butter and the making of the ganache can better be done in plain pots on a propane stove.

For use on scouting outings, replace the coffee liquour with instant espresso powder.

The 'gnanche' is really melted semisweet chocolate, somewhat overpowering. Also makes more ganache than you really need - the coating on top was almost as thick as the cake itself.

Also beware the '40 minuites' cooking ime - mine was done in 30-35 minutes (on a hot, windless day)