After enjoying the heck out of the homemade vanilla ice cream over the Thanksgiving holiday (and for a very few days afterwards), I had it in my mind that a chocolate cake was needed. Initially the intention was to have the cake to go with the ice cream, but having a gluten-free guest as part of the holiday festivities made that choice seem inhospitable to me.
Nonetheless, the urge to bake something chocolatey had led me to a few untried (or rarely seen) recipes that have been tucked away in a folder in the butler's pantry. The one I settled on while avoiding important chores during a recent cold rainy Monday at home was a mocha buttercream chocolate espresso cake.
A little backstory, here: When I was a schoolteacher in Raleigh, I had great colleagues and was particularly close to two of them: Stephanie and Mary. The three of us regularly worked at school late but then often took supper together. For a pretty good stretch, we found ourselves going like clockwork to the Hillsborough Street Darryl's restaurant (which sadly is no more!) and partaking of an early dinner special. Entree, drink, and a dessert for around $9.95, if memory serves...? My sweet finisher of choice just about every time was the chocolate espresso layer cake. Yum, sirree!
Finally, 20 years later, I'm glad to have taken a chance making one of my own.
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| Site of the Original Darryl's 1906 on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh Image Found via UrbanPlanet.org Image Source: reprehensible.net/~orulz/hillsborough/hillsborough7.jpg |
A Postscript: Whereas this popular local chain of restaurants once had around 12 locations, the one remaining Darryl's (which was bought and resurrected by a different owner and is now called Darryl's Wood Fired Grill) is located in Greensboro. I'm darn glad it's there. My memories of going to Darryl's in Raleigh were very central to my high school experience, a bit of college, and for no small number of years through my 20s.
"Mocha Buttercream Chocolate Espresso Cake," from Nestlé's VeryBestBaking.com. Found online.
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