Recipe: Seventh Heaven Cake

Seventh Heaven Cake
rec.food.recipes/Elaine Hacklaender (1993)

4 oz. white chocolate, shaved
1 tsp. water
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup coconut

1/2 recipe chocolate custard (follows)
6 chocolate caramels

2 Tbsp. creme de cacao
chocolate sprinkles

Melt white chocolate in water over low heat. Cream butter and blend in chocolate. Sift flour with salt and soda. Add flour mixture, sugar and buttermilk to chocolate/butter mixture. Beat 2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Fold in chocolate chips, pecans and coconut. Bake in 2 well-greased, floured 9-inch cake pans at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cook 1/2 recipe for Chocolate Custard (recipe follows). Add caramels to custard when custard becomes thick. Stir until caramels melt. Cool.

When cake is cooled, drizzle creme de cacao on bottom layer. Sandwich with custard. Frost with Seventh Heaven frosting. Add chocolate sprinkles on top.

Seventh Heaven Frosting:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 pint whipping cream
1 tsp. cocoa
few drops of vanilla

Sift together sugar and cocoa. Whip cream until frothy. Gradually beat in sugar mixture. Add vanilla.

Chocolate Custard:

3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
2 cups milk, scalded
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar and flour. Beat into eggs. Beat chocolate into egg mixture. Add to scalded milk in double boiler and cook, stirring often until thickened. Add vanilla. Cool.

Note: for regular custard, skip the chocolate. This recipe is good without the chocolate if you aren't using it for the cake -- which is why I'm posting the whole thing and not just the 1/2 called for in the cake.