Southern Living Chocolate Truffle Cake

My contribution to Thanksgiving dinner this year was a Chocolate Truffle Cake from one of my Southern Living cookbooks...it was a huge success! It was a sweet (and pretty) treat if I do say so myself!

It took a little while to make and decorate, so I would advise planning ahead for plenty of time to try it out!

The finished product before...

...and after! Enjoy!

Cake Ingredients

• 8 (1 ounce) semisweet chocolate baking squares
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1¾ cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2⅔ cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1¾ cups buttermilk
• unsweetened cocoa
• Chocolate Truffle Filling
• Ganache
• 2 (14 ounce) containers of Pepperidge Farm Pirouline hazelnut rolled wafer cookies

Microwave chocolate in medium glass bowl for 1 minute or until melted. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar together at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and then chocolate and vanilla and mix until blended. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until blended after each addition. Pour batter in 3 greased 9-inch cakepans dusted with cocoa. Bake at 350 for 22 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then transfer to cooking racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Truffle Filling

• 4 (1 ounce) semisweet chocolate baking squares, chopped
• 6 TBS. butter
• 6 TBS. whipping cream
• 2½ cups powdered sugar

Microwave chocolate and butter for 1 minute or until melted. Stir in whipping cream. Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring until blended and smooth. On cake stand, place first cake and then spread truffle filling between each layer as you stack.

Ganache

• 10 (1 ounce) semisweet chocolate baking squares, chopped
• ½ cup whipping cream

Microwave chocolate for 1 minute or until melted. Add whipping cream and stir until smooth. Spread ganache on sides and top of cake. Break cookies into long pieces and and line the sides of the cake with them. Decorate with thick ribbon and tie or hold in place with a long pin.