The Great Frangelicake

This year, for his birthday, Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats requested a Frangelicake. In case you are wondering what a Frangelicake is, I was too. Basically, Mr. VE&T wanted a cake made with his new favorite liqueur, Frangelico. And, he decided it would be called a Frangelicake.

I pretty much used my successful cake from my aunt's birthday last year as a reference.

 I used the chocolate cake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but this time I decided to make a smaller cake, so I only 1.5'ed the recipe, instead of doubling it. I used my extra special super dark cocoa powder - and don't they look amazing?? Dark as night!

 Also, I used my brand new cake gadget - a level top-remover. I picked it up at the party store for a few bucks recently, because whenever I try to cut the top off the cake with a bread knife it gets all wonky and lopsided. This gadget has a thin serrated wire blade between two "feet" that you can slide along the table. Also, there are litte notches on the side to make sure your blade is level. I needed to make a little slice in the side of the cake with a knife to get the thing going, but after that it worked like a gem...

 ... Look, Ma -- perfectly level!

At the very end, it was starting to tear the cake, so I used a knife again to help it then too. All it all, this gadget was super easy to use and I'm stoked to have it. I don't make cakes all that often, but when I do, I like them to be just so.

 Next I made a Hazelnut Buttercream frosting - based on the Peanut Butter Buttercream from VCTOTW (though without shortening, and with added Frangelico, of course.) This iteration was easier to work with and a bit better than my filling layer from last year's cake for my aunt. I used some 100% hazelnut butter from the health food store and it was super hazelnutty.

 All put together, and ready to get dressed up for a night on the town.

Hm... what to wear? Oh, I know! GANACHE. I should have transferred the cake to the cake board before putting on the ganache, but I guess I just wasn't thinking. Luckily, it was a mini cake, so it was easy to transfer. Also, I love the choco-dribbles on the pot-o-ganache in the background.

 Finally, hazelnuts! I put little strips of parchment paper under the edges of the cake, in order to keep the cake board looking clean and pristine. For the nuts around the edge, I special ordered some roasted hazelnuts from Freddy Guys Hazelnuts. You might think that sounds crazy, but those are seriously the most remarkably glorious roasted hazelnuts ever known to mankind. Worth the shipping fee. Plus, you may as well just buy a bunch of bags while you're there.

 Lookin' good! See how nice it looks after pulling away the parchment strips? 

That way the cake board looks properly spiffy.

For the writing on top, I just mixed some of the leftover hazelnut filling with more powdered sugar and Earth Balance and almond milk, until I got a good consistency for writing. The ziplock bag is my cheap and easy answer to a pastry bag. Put the frosting in, zip it shut, and then use some scissors to cut a tiny little bit off one corner...

 Then it was all ready to go! 

Mr. VE&T wanted to go out for Italian food for dinner, so I called ahead and made sure it would be okay to bring along our own cake. The restaurant was totally cool with that, so I put the whole cake in a cake box and packed it up. The cake box is only 8 inches by 8 inches, so that gives you some sense of this little mini cake's actual size.

The most important question of all: How was it??

Amazeballs!

It was rich and chocolately and hazelnutty! I'm not sure how dominant the Frangelico liqueur was though, so maybe next time it would be even better with some vanilla ice cream and some Frangelico drizzled on top to go with the cake. Luckily, there was some left over to enjoy the next day. Mr. VE&T was a little impatient with me as I was snapping this picture - he was sitting with a fork at the ready, all geared up for more birthday cake!!