Fast, Easy and you don't have to Bake Cake!

With Easter on the way, I thought this would be a great recipe to share. You can make this cake a day ahead, which is the best way to do it. It's domed shape can be sort of Easter Eggy, too. I use store bought pound cake. At the local grocer's, they sell a brand called "Farmer's Market" and they have a chocolate loaf cake that works great for this cake. If you're buying the cake, buy two, you need more than one, but you'll have a bit of leftovers. In my house that's great because as soon as I make the cake they all want to eat it. I feed them the leftover loaf cake and the actual cake is safe until the next day. This is based on an Italian style cake. In the Italian version, they cake is usually vanilla and they have fruit, like strawberries or raspberries in the middle. I have never made it that way, but it sounds great. Next time I make one, I'll add a picture to this post, but at the moment, I don't have one. Not sure why, I usually take pictures of all the cakes I make!

Zuccotto

Butter - to grease the bowl
2 loaf cakes, chocolate
3 tablespoons of almond flavored liqueur
3 oz of dark chocolate, chopped
3 oz of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups of whipping cream
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup of sliced almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
Icing sugar to dust the cake

Use butter to grease a 1 1/2 quart size bowl. Line bowl with plastic wrap. Slice loaf cake into slices that are 1/3 inch thick.Cut each slice diagonally in half to form two triangles. Line the bottom and sides of the prepared bowl with cake slices. Brush liqueur over the cake slices lining the bowl. Reserve extra triangles.

Melt chocolate in double boiler, stir until smooth. Set it aside and allow it to cool to room temperature. Using electric mixer, whip 1 cup of cream in a large bowl until thick and fluffy. Fold in one fourth of whip cream into the chocolate mixture, until well blended. In two separate additions, add remaining whipped cream, blending well to make a fluffy, thick chocolate mousse type filling. Spread chocolate cream mixture over the cake lining the bowl. Be sure to cover the cake completely. Create a well in the center of the cream, cover and refrigerate while you make the second filling.

Using an electric mixer, with a clean bowl and beaters, beat remaining cup of whipping cream until thick and fluffy. Gradually whip in 1/4 cup of icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whip until stiff peaks form. Fold in almonds. Spoon the mixture into the well of the other filling.

Brush the remaining slices of cake with liqueur and arrange them, liqueur side down, over cake, covering the filling completely. Trim slices to fit if necessary. Cover cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours, but over night gives the best results.

To serve, invert cake onto a serving platter, dust with icing sugar and serve. It's great with fresh berries, like strawberries or raspberries on the side, even an extra dollop of whipped cream!

Serves 8 to 10