I'm and experienced baker, and made this cake for a chocolate-loving friend's birhtday, and he loved it. This cake is chocolatey, and not overly sweet. For anyone having trouble with this cake, here's what I did: 1. always grease and flour your baking pans, then place parchment paper in them, and grease and flour (use cocoa for a chocolate cake) the paper. My cakes never stick when I do this. 2. The butter to sugar ratio in this recipe is low, it just won't cream. This is no big deal, the cake will still turn out well. Just go ahead and add one egg and then begin creaming. 3. Beat the butter/sugar/egg mixture at least two minutes, then add another egg, beat two more minutes, add the third egg, beat at least two more minutes. 4. This recipe will fill 3 9-in. cake pans if each one is filled slightly less than halfway. This makes an impressive looking cake when ganache and frosting is spread between each layer. 5. To make the ganache, boil the cream over medium heat, then add the chocolate chips, lower the heat, and whisk briskly until smooth. 6. This recipe's buttercream frosting is good, but unnecessarily complicated. Just cream the butter, mix the cream, vanilla and chocolate together,alternately add it and the confectioner's sugar to the creamed butter, then the cream cheese. I found the frosting too thick, so I added 3 tbs. milk. I left out the egg yolk completely. 7. Cake assembly-pour the ganache in the center of each layer, then carefully spread it just to the edge. Chil

Reviewed On: Jan. 11, 2009

I am the baker at an Italian restaurant, and I made this cake for my chef and coworkers. It got rave reviews. It was moist, tender, and delicious. I did leave out the walnuts per one cook's request, but most of us thought it would be even better with them. I also added toasted coconut to the top for a prettier presentation. We thought that added great flavor to the cake.

Reviewed On: Jan. 9, 2009

Delicious! I followed the recipe precisely, though I was concerned that the anise might be overwhelming, and I am not a fan of the flavor. However, these cookies are a great balance of flavors, light, not-too-sweet, crispy, and just enough anise to flavor it.

Reviewed On: Dec. 14, 2008