Happy 1st Birthday to "Taste and See"

Chocolate Kahlua Cake

It's official.... My blog is 1 year old now, and I have an excuse to bake a cake.
I've had my eye on this cake for a while now, and I had some Kahlua left over from the Tiramisu Ice Cream I made last week. I saw this recipe on the Sugar & Spice blog, and it's a recipe from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. It's really moist, and the hazelnuts really add a great flavor. I couldn't taste the Kahlua very much in the cake, so it just tasted like a good chocolate cake to me. If you make this, you need to have a big glass of milk to drink.
I only made a 2 layer cake because I only have 2 round cake pans. I used the rest of the batter to make cupcakes.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 and 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 cup Kahlua
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
2 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup Kahlua
3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts or pecans, toasted and divided (I used hazelnuts)
Chocolate Kahlua Frosting (below)
Garnish: chocolate-covered coffee beans (I substituted chopped hazelnuts for the garnish)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 9-inch round cake pans; line with wax paper. Grease and flour wax paper. Set aside.

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add 1/4 cup Kahlua; beat until well blended.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix at low speed after each addition until blended. Stir in chocolate and vanilla.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans. Peel off wax paper. Drizzle layers evenly with 1/3 cup Kahlua.

Combine 1/2 cup hazelnuts or pecans and 1 cup Chocolate Kahlua Frosting (recipe below); spread between layers. Spread remaining frosting on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup hazelnuts or pecans on top. Garnish, if desired. Store in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Kahlua Frosting

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar, sifted and divided
3 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1/4 cup Kahlua or strongly brewed coffee

Directions:
Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and chocolate; beat until smooth. Gradually add remaining powdered sugar and Kahlua, beating at low speed until spreading consistency.