Discovering the Foods of the Twin Cities

St. Paul’s Best Chocolate Cake

Grand Avenue is grand. It’s on the St. Paul side of the Mississippi River. If you have a couple days to speStreetnd in the cities, don’t miss Grand Avenue. Some of the best restaurants in America are there. If you like fish, try The Tavern on Grand. Walleye, fixed several ways, is their signature dish. They serve more walleye than any other restaurant.

We never make a trip to Saint Paul without making a stop —  or several — at Café Latte. The pastries are exquisite; the soups, sandwiches, and salads are incredible.

“What’s your best chocolate cake?” I asked the server. Without hesitation she answered, “The Turtle Cake.”  It was very good, and simple enough that I can talk you through making it. Keep reading for all the sweet details.

Merri Ann, my wife, is gluten free so she had the flourless chocolate cake. It too was good. We have a mix for that, the Legendary Flourless Chocolate Cake Mix. Dusted with a little powdered sugar, it was exactly like we make at home.

TurtleCakeTop

Ingredients for Turtle Cake:

To make the Turtle Cake, you will need:

If you buy the frostings from us, they are absolutely superb — rich, creamy, and every bit as good as those at Café Latte. They come in two pound tubs so you will have enough for several cakes.

Steps to make your Turtle Cake:

  1. Bake the cake according to package directions in three eight-inch layers.
  2. Spread a generous quarter-inch of fudge frosting on the first layer. Sprinkle it with pecan pieces. (The pecans help hold up the next layer so that frosting does not squish out.) Repeat with the other layers including the top layer, stacking one layer on top of another.
  3. Melt about a cup of caramel frosting just to a drizzling consistency. Do not over-heat. It should be thick and barely pourable. Pour the caramel frosting over the cake allowing the caramel frosting to drizzle down the sides. (The sides of the cake are not frosted but there are caramel drizzles down the sides.)

This is a wonderful chocolate cake that your family will enjoy.

 

Author Biography

Dennis Weaver has burnt food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He is the founder of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho and the author of How to Bake: The Art and Science of Baking available as an Ebook or as a Kindle book on Amazon.

He loves to help people bake and shares his vast collection of cooking and baking knowledge on his blog as well as in his Ebooks and Magazines.

Dennis lives in Rigby, Idaho, with his wife, Merri Ann. They have five wonderful children.

To learn more about The Prepared Pantry, visit our website at www.preparedpantry.com.