| 1 | Preheat the oven to 325. |
| 2 | butter an 8-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. |
| 3 | Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. |
| 4 | Beat the butter with ?cup of the sugar until light and fluffy. |
| 5 | Add the egg yolks, two at a time, and then the rum, then the walnuts, beating well each time. |
| 6 | in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and the rest of the sugar until they are stiff and shiny. |
| 7 | Add the melted chocolate to the butter mixture and combine well. |
| 8 | Fold in the egg whites and combine well, until there are no more white streaks. |
| 9 | Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs. |
| 10 | cool the cake and then chill. |
| 11 | whip 2 ?cups of ganache until light and fluffy. |
| 12 | Smooth a little of the ganache on top of the chilled cake. |
| 13 | Sprinkle crushed toffee on top of the cake, and then cover the whole thing, top and sides, with ganache and chill for two hours. |
| 14 | serve the cake at room temperature. |
| 15 | ganache: bring the cream to a boil in a 6-quart pot. |
| 16 | When the cream boils, remove it from the heat immediately and add all the chocolate at once. |
| 17 | Stir with a wire whisk until the chocolate is all melted. |
| 18 | Pour into a bowl, allow to cool at room temperature, cover with plastic wrap, and chill. |
| 19 | You can keep in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for several months. |
| 20 | toffee: preheat the oven to 17Put nuts on a cookie sheet and place in the oven to keep warm. |
| 21 | Coat another cookie tray with vegetable oil. |
| 22 | put the sugar, water, corn syrup, and vanilla in a heavy saucepan and stir well to dissolve the sugar. |
| 23 | Wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water so that there is no sugar clinging to the sides of the pan. |
| 24 | Cook over high heat until it reaches a boil, continuing to wash down with water. |
| 25 | After it has boiled for one minute, add the butter, stirring often. |
| 26 | It is done when it registers 290 on a candy thermometer and it is the color of a brown paper bag. |
| 27 | Remove from heat and stir in the walnuts. |
| 28 | Pour the mixture onto the oiled sheet and let it cool completely. |
| 29 | from "special desserts" by ann amernick, clarkson potter, publishers |
| 30 | this is the wedding cake recipe, as heard on weekend all things considered. |
| 31 | Please feel free to post it around, as long as you keep the |
